See link for photo.
As reported, Amarula kicked off the first phase of the ‘Name Them, Save Them’ campaign – an ambitious attempt to name every surviving African elephant in the wild – last October online.
“This allowed an international audience to visit a digital African savannah where they could design and name a virtual African elephant,” says Amarula.
Participants could then share their named elephant with friends and fellow conservationists as a means of raising awareness to the plight of wild African elephants.
ROLL OUT AT IAADFS IN ORLANDO
“To date, over 500,000 elephant-lovers from around the world have visited Amarula’s digital African savannah – a number greater than the actual population of African elephants currently living in the wild,” reveals Amarula.
At IAADFS in Orlando this year, Amarula will roll-out the next phase of the ‘Name Them, Save Them’, campaign.
“In Phase Two, the digitalized pachyderms created by the cream liqueur’s on-line audience are brought to life by putting a named elephant and information regarding the animal on the labels of 400,000 individualized Amarula bottles – one bottle for each of the earth’s remaining African elephants,” says the brand.
Amarula will be showcasing a number of these one-of-a-kind bottles at IAADFS before they are distributed to Amarula markets around the world.
Dino D’Araujo, Amarula Global General Manager commented: “The future of the African elephant is at a tipping point. Collected data shows that each day – not each month or even each week – each day around 96 African elephants are killed by poachers for their ivory. The species simply cannot sustain a slaughter on that scale and survive.”
‘STAGGERING DECLINE’ IN A DECADE
The latest wildlife census information puts the number of African elephants living in the wild at around 400,000, a staggering decline from just a decade ago.
“Amarula intends to maintain the popular digital African savannah and its fascinating visuals into the foreseeable future and urges conservationists around the world to visit the site (www.amarula.com) and encourage other animal-lovers to do so as well.”
Amarula will donate $1.00 (USD) to elephant conservation efforts for every digital elephant created on the site.
“We have always had a special bond with these magnificent creatures as the marula tree and its fruit contribute enormously to the well-being of the elephant and the very existence of Amarula,” adds D’Araujo.
“We had to come up with something that would personalise the plight of the African elephant in a way that would resonate with the international community and rally it to the cause. We think “Name Them, Save Them” is the perfect vehicle for this outreach,” he said.
OUTCRY OVER CECIL THE LION
It was actually the killing of another African animal that served as the inspiration for Amarula’s ‘Name Them, Save Them’ campaign.
In 2015, a hunter in Zimbabwe killed a male African lion that had been given the name Cecil.
“When word of Cecil’s death erupted on the internet, the international outcry was spontaneous, immediate and unrelenting,” adds Amarula.
“By having named the lion, wildlife conservationists had created a persona for the animal allowing the general public to identify with it and relate to its well-being. Amarula credits the outcry over the death of Cecil as the impetus for the ‘Name Them, Save Them’ programme.”
The Amarula bottles carrying the name and information on the digitalized elephants will be available beginning in late-spring and early-summer, 2017 in Global Travel Retail as well as South Africa, Germany, Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.