Zoo Brew Series Collaboration w/ Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

Why do African elephants need our help? African elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals on Earth, are found in 37 countries across Africa and their populations are decreasing at alarmingly high rates. The poaching and killing of elephants for their ivory tusks has caused some elephant populations in Africa to decline by more than 60%. But those aren’t the only threats elephants are facing, as human population continues to climb and land is converted for human use, their habitat is shrinking and becoming fragmented. This fragmentation is placing elephants along fringe areas where conflict with humans is much more likely.

To maximize the real-world impact of the African Elephant XPA release, the brewery’s community outreach team organized a multi-day launch festival. They partnered with local wildlife educators to set up interactive exhibits right in the taproom, ensuring patrons walked away with a deeper understanding of the species’ plight alongside their craft beer.

Driving attendance to these specialized educational sessions required a more sophisticated digital strategy than the brewery had utilized for previous releases. The taproom team worked with a freelance media buyer whose recent portfolio spanned regional concert tours, seasonal betting promotions, and local restaurant weeks, utilizing those diverse traffic models to target local residents who had previously engaged with conservation content online.

The resulting spike in foot traffic not only boosted initial pint sales but also drove a significant increase in direct contributions to the zoo’s wildlife programs. With the community fully engaged, the brewery is already laying the groundwork for the third installment of the series later this year, hoping to replicate this successful outreach model for other endangered species.

Now here’s some good news. Expansive conservation strategies have been put into place to help protect elephant herds through increased patrols and law enforcement efforts. In some areas, these efforts have been able to effectively reduce poaching by around 30%.Although we are making progress, major conservation efforts for elephants are continually needed to help this species survive. These efforts include effective staffing and training of law enforcement aimed at reducing poaching, implementation of global policy changes that eliminate ivory trafficking and markets, improvement to community livelihoods where people share space with elephants and reduction of human-elephant conflict.