I thought I saw a pussy cat: Portrayal of wild cats in friendly interactions with humans distorts perceptions and encourages interactions with wild cat species

Abstract

Most people lack the opportunity to see non-domesticated animals in the wild. Consequently, people’s perception of wild animals is based on what they see on (social) media. The way in which (social) media portrays non-domesticated animals determines our perception of and behaviour to these animals. People like to interact with animals, which is why venues which offer the opportunity to interact with non-domesticated animals are popular wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs). However, these WTAs more often than not profit at the expense of animal welfare, conservation and human safety. Participation in such WTAs should therefore be discouraged. Through (social) media we are regularly exposed to images of non-domesticated animals in close interactions with humans. Exposure to such images seems to blur the line between what is a friendly domesticated animal and what is a potentially dangerous wild animal. Such images may also increase our desire to engage in interactions with non-domesticated animals ourselves and reduce moral concerns about the use of non-domesticated animals for such interactions, thereby promoting WTAs in which tourists can interact with non-domesticated animals. Wild cat species are commonly used in the wildlife tourism industry to interact with tourists. In this study, we determine whether portrayal of wild cat species in interactions with humans promotes WTAs with wild cats. We presented respondents with an image of a wild cat species (lion, cheetah, caracal) in a control setting, walked by a human (WTA), petted by a human (WTA) or in the wild and asked them to answer a fixed set of questions. We found that portraying wild cat species in interactions with humans reduced the fear of wild cats, encouraged people to regard WTAs with wild cats as acceptable and stimulated them to participate in such activities themselves.

Human Positioning in Close-Encounter Photographs and the Effect on Public Perceptions of Zoo Animals

“…The Kangaroo did not receive significantly different levels of agreement compared to the snake, which could suggest that charismatic megafauna (large mammals with high public popularity) are simply less likely to be considered good pets. This theory is further supported by Van der Meer, Eckman, and Bockhart [38], who saw similar trends when showing images of humans and big cats, and Spooner and Stride [39], who suggest similar findings with images of large mammals. Again, this may be due to the increased emotional connection that humans seem to have with large mammals, which may foster the belief that such animals belong in their natural habitat to increase their welfare and happiness, and thus should not be owned [63,74].…”

“…We suggest that the presence and distance of a human from an animal in such images may play a strong role in perceptions of ownership or companionship with the Featured Animal, either by highlighting the dominance of humans over wildlife or by increasing perceptions that such behaviour is appropriate. Both suggestions are supported by Siriwat and Nijman [71], Otsuka and Yamakoshi [29], Van der Meer, Bockhart, and Eckman [38], and Stride [39], who have all found that imagery of humans and animals together on social media increases expectations that viewers can approach, touch, and own animals that are not considered domestic. As such images increase in popularity and number, the theories of social norms [42] and repeat messaging [72] suggest that these behaviours may increase in number and severity, as seen by Otsuka and Yamakoshi [29].…”

Identification and Evaluation of African Lion (Panthera leo) Cub Welfare in Wildlife-Interaction Tourism

“…Moorhouse et al [ 2 ] scored 24 types of wildlife tourist attractions and deemed only six to have positive conservation and welfare impacts. van der Meer, Botman and Eckhardt [ 12 ] concurred and considered most wildlife tourist attractions to be about making a profit. Essen, Lindsjö and Berg [ 1 ] go so far as to describe animals within animal-based tourism as “laborers in a global capitalist economy where they are conscripted into the service of the tourism industry”.…”

Primate Selfies and Anthropozoonotic Diseases: Lack of Rule Compliance and Poor Risk Perception Threatens Orangutans

“…Often such images are of celebrities, TV presenters and researchers. Such imagery normalizes close contact, exacerbates any lack of societal risk response and diminishes the perception that human behaviours can cause risk [ Van der Meer et al, 2019;Lenzi et al, 2020;Thomas-Walters et al, 2020].…”