Ricky Gervais has revealed he's leaving his fortune to animals in need

Ricky Gervais wants to leave his entire fortune to animal charities just before he dies.

The 56-year-old comedian - who has been an animal activist for years - has vowed to give all his cash to organisations that help improve the lives of sick, injured, abandoned and abused animals.

This won't be the first time the funny man - who was crowned Person of the Year by PETA for his work on stomping out animal abuse - has given something to an animal charity as just two years ago he donated a signed acoustic guitar to help raise funds for Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Ontario, Canada.

And, prior to that, in 2013 he bought a cake shaped like a moonbear for $1,000 (£770) to raise funds for Animal Asia, a Hong Kong-based charity that seeks to end cruelty.

As well as his charitable efforts, Ricky has also become the voice of the animals and has previously spoken out against fox hunting and bullfighting.

He also wrote a letter to then-British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him to stop the use of black bear fur as caps for the Foot Guards.

However, Ricky has proved he has a heart for humans too as he previously gave a proportion of $45,000 donation- $25,000 of which came from the proceeds raised from his recent show at New York City's Madison Square Garden - to cancer sufferers.

The remainder went to various animals charities.