“Don’t let Elephants disappear” – Amarula

Majestic with poise and a giant in African wildlife, some of the words that try and explain what the African elephant represents. Elephants are essential in the ecosystem as they help other organisms thrive due to them consuming a large quantity of vegetation. However, according to poachingfacts.com elephants are disappearing in the wild at a very alarming and unsustainable rate. This is primarily because of their tusks which are used in the illicit ivory trade. The tusks are believed to have baseless healing properties, however, the elephants are used to make ivory ornaments and jewelry and this is rapidly depopulating our beloved elephants.

To brawl the ghastly poaching act Amarula conceptualized the “Don’t let them disappear” project to shed the light on the rampant poaching of our majestic African elephant. In August they took a huge step in raising awareness for their initiative by going to the ‘Big Apple’ in New York City and sculpted a life-sized African elephant out of ice and placed in the summer heat. The life-like sculpture gradually melted, dramatically symbolizing the alarming rate at which the African elephants are disappearing at the hands of poachers.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu, a foremost authority on African elephants and CEO of Amarula’s charitable partner, WildlifeDirect, was present to educate and help raise awareness to the public. Dr. Kahumbu comments, “The future of the African elephant is at a tipping point.  Recent data shows that each day around 96 African elephants are killed by poachers for their ivory. There are only approximately 350,000 African elephants left in the world, and one is lost every 15 minutes. We need help spreading the word about the plight of our elephants” says Dr. Kahumbu. This campaign is a critical component to our global conservation efforts. More importantly, Amarula is a global brand which means we can reach consumers around the world with our key message that ivory belongs on elephants.”

In an effort to raise awareness locally, Amarula has released a limited edition bottle with a label that is without its iconic elephant. In a brief conversation with Saramien Dekker who is Amarula’s Global General Manager, she said “Removing the elephant from our logo –signifies our commitment to the fight against ivory poaching and saving the African elephant from extinction. If we don’t raise awareness to stop the ivory trade, elephants will disappear – just like the one our label”