U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ivory crush event

[Brian Bohnsack]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is getting national and international coverage of our event last week where we crushed tons of our confiscated ivory.  My FWS colleagues put in tons of up front work on this and we are getting great coverage of this.  (I had nothing to do with this and am sharing for the possible good of the groups).

 

If this issue is of interest to your agency, (I assume it may be of interest to some of your law enforcement divisions), and you want to put out announcements on this or leverage this issue, please contact Sandra Cleva of the FWS (sandra...@fws.gov).  The FWS has an outreach team working on this and Sandra is one of its leaders. 

 

Here is some of the media coverage to date on this that I copied and pasted from a colleague that helped with the media outreach.:

 

EFE

EFE’s coverage of the ivory crush spans across US, Latin America, Europe, and Africa.  There are four sets of packages that EFE ran and are getting pick-up:  1)  An overarching article about the ivory crush, and access to the facility (thanks OLE!); 2)  An article about the ivory crush coached in the story about the African-China ivory demand and supply; and, 3) A pictorial gallery of pics from both the crush and the facility that is making its rounds as “Pics of the day” coverage in online news.

1.      The Overarching article quotes Carter Roberts (WWF) and Gavin Shire (USFWS).  The article mentions special guest in attendance (Dan Ashe and actresses/actors), CITES, and other relevant information about illegal wildlife trade and elephants.  **Still  tracking exact coverage and overall reach.  Examples of EFE stories coming from the on-site coverage:

a.      Latin America: http://www.tuteve.tv/noticia/actualidad/185941/2013/11/14/eeuu-destruye-mas-de-6-toneladas-de-marfil-en-rechazo-a-matanza-de-elefantes

b.      Spain:  http://sociedad.elpais.com/sociedad/2013/11/15/actualidad/1384535411_949711.html

c.      US:  http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2013/11/15/1614986/eeuu-destruye-6-toneladas-de-marfil.html

2.      The Africa-China connection article referencing the ivory crush was pushed out of Nairobi by EFE staff.  The article includes a photo of USFWS staff at the crush.

a.      Africa:   http://yucatan.com.mx/internacional/dura-batalla-contra-el-trafico-de-marfil

3.      Pictorial gallery pushed out through EFE’s photo feed:  http://www.eltiempo.com/Multimedia/galeria_fotos/ecologia/eeuu-destruyo-mas-de-6-toneladas-de-marfil-en-contra-de-la-matanza-de-elefantes_13189755-5

4.       Video feed circulating throughout the western hemisphere and Spain:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JUnzv3FCU

 

Telemundo

Telemundo was unable to actually interview someone on camera during the facility visit so they are using photographs from the visit with an article.  The international Telemundo story includes pics from the facility tour and quotes from USFWS’ Steve Olberhotzer:  Tracking for both TV and online coverage is ongoing, and examples are as follows:

·        International:  http://www.teledoce.com/telemundo/internacionales/42165_Marfil-sangriento-de-2.000-elefantes-sera-hecho-polvo

·        Mexico:  http://www.telemundo33.com/2013/11/16/la-inversion-china-acorrala-al-elefante-africano/

·        US:  http://www.telemundoatlanta.com/1829_nacional/2298156_destruyen-en-denver-toneladas-de-marfil-para-combatir-su-trafico-ilegal.html

 

Univision

Univision’s feed of the ivory crush was compiled using both AP and EFE coverage, with photos from EFE.  Univision was unable to have a camera in attendance and was trying to coordinate with NBC the day-of the event to obtain footage, hence the reason they used AP/EFE coverage.  It appears that Univision affiliates did snippets of the coverage online and/or TV.  However, it appears that television networks in Latin America associated with Uni did more in-depth coverage of the crush.  Tracking of Univision is ongoing: 

·        Venezuela/InfoBae TV (STORY 1):  http://www.infobae.com/2013/11/14/1523674-eeuu-destruira-marfil-sangriento-2000-elefantes

·        Venezuela/InfoBae TV (STORY 2):  http://www.infobae.com/2013/11/15/1523889-eeuu-contra-la-caza-elefantes-destruyo-seis-toneladas-marfil

·        US Univision feed examples:  

o   http://www.univisionkansas.com/2013/11/16/la-inversion-china-acorrala-al-elefante-africano/

o   http://feeds.univision.com/feeds/article/2013-11-14/eeuu-destruye-mas-de-6

o   http://feeds.univision.com/feeds/article/2013-11-14/eeuu-destruira-6-toneladas-de

 

 

***I would say that international and US reach with these outlets alone (not including CNN en Español) is well over 200 million.  Again, tracking is ongoing.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Noemi Lujan Perez

Nontraditional Stakeholders & Media Director

Office of Partner Liaison

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

 

4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS-3103-AEA

Arlington, VA  22203

(703) 358-2688 Phone

(703) 358-2548 Fax