Is YouTube promoting the exotic pet trade? Analysis of the global public perception of popular YouTube videos featuring threatened exotic animals

Moloney, Georgia Kate; Tuke, Jonathan; Grande, Eleonora Dal; Nielsen, Torben; Chaber, Anne‐Lise

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235451

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…While this may be a traditionally desirable characteristic in parrots due to their association with repeating phrases, it may also be driven by modern media, as videos of parrots mimicing songs and speech are popular online (e.g. Moloney et al 2021;). We also found that species which are easy to care for (i.e., "beginner" species) were more popular, which encapsulates species that are hardy, have generalist diets and do not need specialist housing or attention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who’s a pretty bird? Predicting the abundance of bird species in Australian online pet trade

Hill

Delean

Stringham

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The exotic pet trade has largely shifted from traditional brick-and-mortar shops to online commerce. Understanding the dynamics of online pet trade, including relationships between species characteristics and a species’ relative popularity, can assist in informing trade regulation for conservation and biosecurity. Here, we identified the leading correlates behind the abundance in the Australian trade of parrot (Psittaciformes) and songbird (Passeriformes) species. We examined 14,000 online sales of parrots and songbirds collected from a popular online Australian marketplace in 2019 (representing 235 species) using an automated data collection method. We identified the characteristics that correlated with online species abundance (i.e., popularity); including (i) breeding and handling requirements; (ii) trade and availability; and (iii) appearance and behaviour. We found 55% of parrot species and 64% of songbird species traded online were non-native to Australia (i.e., alien species), most of which (81% and 85% respectively) have an extreme risk of establishing invasive populations. Species abundance of both orders was influenced by cheaper prices, which is associated with a higher invasion risk. Trade in parrots was also correlated with attractive birdsongs, being easy to care for, and a preference for native Australian species. Songbird abundance was correlated with attractive plumage colour and, to a lesser extent, the availability of colour mutations and smaller range sizes. These results, combined with an understanding of consumer behaviour and international trends, may help predict which species will become popular in domestic trade in the future, and identify current and future invasion risks to assist in environmental biosecurity efforts.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who’s a pretty bird? Predicting the abundance of bird species in Australian online pet trade

Hill

Delean

Stringham

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…It is possible that the same older subjects sampled here would have expressed greater interest earlier in their lives, and similarly that the younger generations reporting greater interest may show declining interest with age. However, given the relationships reported between media and pet interest [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43], we find it most plausible that interest reported among younger generations persists to some degree through development unless there are concurrent changes in media exposure.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 97%

“…This result was obtained for both species despite the species being considered independently in the study design, and despite the differences in their biology and appearance. Given the previous connections identified between media and interest in pet ownership [3,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43], one explanation for these findings is that younger generations, which are regularly exposed to images of these animals in unnatural contexts and alongside humans in social media, are developing more interest in pet ownership than older generations without similar long-term exposure.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The increase in non-domesticated pet interest may be due to the widespread availability of the internet and social media, both because of the increased market access for those trying to reach consumers and because of the exposure that people have to images and videos of animals [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Further, public interest in non-domesticated pet ownership is known to be responsive to media portrayals of animals on Facebook, YouTube, and in popular movies and television shows [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Younger generations are more interested than older generations in having non-domesticated animals as pets

et al. 2022

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The trade and private ownership of non-domesticated animals has detrimental effects on individual animals and their wild populations. Therefore, there is a need to understand the conditions that motivate and dissuade interest in non-domesticated pet ownership. Past research has demonstrated that the way in which non-domesticated animals are portrayed in images influences the public’s perception that they are suitable as pets. We conducted an online survey of people residing in the United States to investigate how viewing images that could be realistically captured in the zoo and broader tourism industries impact the degree to which people report interest in having that animal as a pet. We focused on two species, reticulated pythons (Malayopython reticulatus) and two-toed sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni), and presented each species in six different visual contexts. After viewing an image, respondents reported interest in pet ownership on a four-point Likert scale. Each species was studied separately in a between-subjects design and results were analyzed using ordinal logistic regression models. Thirty-nine percent of respondents reported interest in sloth pet ownership, and 21% reported interest in python pet ownership. However, contrary to our hypotheses, we found that viewing these species in different visual contexts did not significantly affect survey respondents’ reported interest in having either species as a pet. Generation was a significant predictor of interest in both sloth and python pet ownership, with younger generations reporting more interest in having these species as pets. Male respondents reported more interest in python pet ownership, whereas there were no significant differences between genders regarding interest in sloth ownership. We consider how modern media exposure to animals in unnatural contexts may relate to the generational effect and discuss priorities for future research to better understand the development of individual interests in non-domesticated pet ownership.

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“…Fang & Zhan, 2015); it is used increasingly in various fields using social media data (e.g. Chauhan et al, 2021;Moloney et al, 2021;Nemes & Kiss, 2021;Piedrahita-Valdé et al, 2021;Poecze et al, 2019). Content analysis, in contrast (in its simplest terms and as used here), is used to determine | 105 the presence of particular words, themes or concepts in the text (see e.g.…”

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confidence: 99%

The viewer doesn't always seem to care—response to fake animal rescues on YouTube and implications for social media self‐policing policies

et al. 2023

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Animal‐related content on social media is hugely popular but is not always appropriate in terms of how animals are portrayed or how they are treated. This has potential implications beyond the individual animals involved, for viewers, for wild animal populations, and for societies and their interactions with animals. Whilst social media platforms usually publish guidelines for permitted content, enforcement relies at least in part on viewers reporting inappropriate posts. Currently, there is no external regulation of social media platforms. Based on a set of 241 ‘fake animal rescue’ videos that exhibited clear signs of animal cruelty and strong evidence of being deliberately staged (i.e. fake), we found little evidence that viewers disliked the videos and an overall mixed response in terms of awareness of the fake nature of the videos, and their attitudes towards the welfare of the animals involved. Our findings suggest, firstly, that, despite the narrowly defined nature of the videos used in this case study, exposure rates can be extremely high (one of the videos had been viewed over 100 million times), and, secondly, that many YouTube viewers cannot identify (or are not concerned by) animal welfare or conservation issues within a social media context. In terms of the current policy approach of social media platforms, our findings raise questions regarding the value of their current reliance on consumers as watch dogs. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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Is YouTube promoting the exotic pet trade? Analysis of the global public perception of popular YouTube videos featuring threatened exotic animals

Cited by 18 publications

References 34 publications

Who’s a pretty bird? Predicting the abundance of bird species in Australian online pet trade

Who’s a pretty bird? Predicting the abundance of bird species in Australian online pet trade

Younger generations are more interested than older generations in having non-domesticated animals as pets

The viewer doesn't always seem to care—response to fake animal rescues on YouTube and implications for social media self‐policing policies

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