Why Have a Pet Amphibian? Insights From YouTube

Measey, John; Basson, Anna C.; Rebelo, Alexander D.; Nunes, Ana L.; Vimercati, Giovanni; Louw, Mercia; Mohanty, Nitya Prakash

doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00052

Cited by 25 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Recent access to the internet has extended temporal and spatial boundaries and made the world a global village where electronic, especially social, media has rapidly increased the accessibility and immediacy of information [29], but with some restrictions. However, once again, data collected from social media, including YouTube, if used with caution, can be useful for understanding the behaviour of animals [15,16].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, the massive use of smartphones and uploading of videos on the YouTube platform offer possibilities to check occurrences of alcohol consumption by birds and show it in a social context. These videos can provide additional sources of information to those from a classical review of published papers, because they present available raw data in the form of uploaded videos, and thus offer options for internal validity, large samples and free and ubiquitous availability [15,16]. Video sharing platforms allow insights into how people perceive their pets inside their homes, and likewise the interactions that are commonly experienced with animals in the wild [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media

Tryjanowski

Hetman

Czechowski

et al. 2020

Animals

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Simple Summary: Alcohol consumption is quite common in the bird world. Using scientific literature and Internet resources (available because of the rising popularity of social media), we investigate which species and sources of ethanol are most frequently used by captive and wild birds. Moreover, it was possible with the internet videos to discriminate between intentional and unintentional ingestion. This information may be helpful in choosing appropriate species for future laboratory studies about ethanol metabolism in birds and their behaviour.Abstract: Ethanol is a natural by-product of the fermentation process of fruit sugars and is occasionally consumed by fruit-eating and tree sap drinking birds. Information on this form of alcohol consumption features in the scientific literature. However, as pets or as wild animals living close to humans in urban habitats, birds have increasing possibilities to consume alcohol from beverages, such as beer, wine or spirits. Some observations have been discussed in a light-hearted manner in mass media and social media, but without any generalization of why some bird species drink the beverages intentionally or unintentionally provided by humans. To check which species and in what circumstances birds drink alcohol and how this is evaluated by humans, we reviewed the scientific literature and analysed videos from YouTube. In total we found and analysed 8 scientific papers and 179 YouTube videos, from which we identified at least 55 species (in some cases not all birds were identified to species level), 11 in the scientific literature and 47 in videos. The distribution of these species over the avian phylogenetic tree suggests that the origin of this convergent behaviour is mainly by human influence. The two data sources differed in the species covered. Videos typically presented interactions of birds with human-provided alcoholic beverages, and were dominated by two groups of intelligent birds: parrots and corvids. The popularity of YouTube videos for a particular species was positively correlated with the general popularity of the species as measured by the number of hits (results listed) on Google. Human responses to the videos were generally very positive and we analysed how the responses were influenced by factors derived from viewing the videos. Moreover, YouTube videos also provide information on at least 47 new bird species not previously mentioned as using alcohol, and our results suggest that parrots in particular can be potentially good candidates for future restricted laboratory studies on the effect of ethanol on birds and their relationship with humans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media

Tryjanowski

Hetman

Czechowski

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…Recent studies have attempted to understand pet ownership and stakeholder perception of pet-trade management [14,31]. Future research must systematically assess human motivations for pet ownership and release, preferences for traits to better hone predictions of which species are likely to be traded, and better inform risk assessments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regional trade data is available only for a limited set of countries [8,12]. Geographically, pet ownership and trade in Asia is understudied [13,14]. Research is also taxonomically biased, with trade in species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) being relatively well documented, even though other species may account for a much larger component of international trade [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic Bias and Traits of the Global Amphibian Pet-Trade

Mohanty

Measey

2019

Preprint

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The pet-trade is recognized as the major pathway for amphibian introductions worldwide, yet our understanding of the trade is limited. In this study, we systematically assess amphibian species in the pet-trade, i) characterising taxonomic bias and ii) evaluating species-traits as predictors of traded species and trade volume. We collated a global list of 443 traded amphibians and a regional dataset on trade volume. Species-traits (body size, native range size, clutch size, and breeding type) and conservation status, were considered as predictors of traded species and volume. We found a strong bias for certain Families, along with a preference for large-bodied and widely distributed species with a larval phase, in the pet-trade. However, species-traits performed poorly in predicting trade volume of pet amphibians in the USA. The identified species-traits and taxonomic bias of the trade is used to predict species likely to be traded as pets in the future.

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“…Like reptiles, amphibian invasions in South Africa are currently minimal, but there is concern that increases in trade may bring about new invasions (Measey et al 2017;van Wilgen et al 2008;Measey et al 2019;Mohanty and Measey 2019). Incidents of jump dispersal as contaminants of horticulture, with wood and even adhered to vehicles are apparently common, likely underreported, and include international as well as local movements (Measey et al 2017).…”

Section: History Of Introductions Pathways and Vectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial Vertebrate Invasions in South Africa

Measey

Hui

Somers

2020

Biological Invasions in South Africa

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In this chapter we review the current knowledge on terrestrial vertebrate invasions in South Africa. Thirty species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians are considered to have arrived over the last 10,000 years, with two thirds having become invasive in the last 150 years. Half of the species are mammals, a third birds, with three reptiles and two amphibians. Although there are multiple pathways, there appears to be a trend from species that were deliberately introduced in the past, to accidental introductions in the last~100 years, which are a by-product of increasing trade, both internationally and within South Africa. Few invasive terrestrial vertebrate species have had their impacts formally assessed within South Africa, but international assessments suggest that many can have Moderate or Major environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Of particular concern is the growing demand for alien pets within the region, with increasing amounts of escapees being encountered in the wild. We consider the importance that the NEM: BA Alien and Invasive Species Regulations have had on the research of invasive terrestrial vertebrates in South Africa, and emphasise the importance of regulations for domestic exotics.

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Why Have a Pet Amphibian? Insights From YouTube

Cited by 25 publications

References 49 publications

Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media

Birds Drinking Alcohol: Species and Relationship with People. A Review of Information from Scientific Literature and Social Media

Taxonomic Bias and Traits of the Global Amphibian Pet-Trade

Terrestrial Vertebrate Invasions in South Africa

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