Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

#capuchinmonkeys on Social Media: A Threat for Species Conservation

#capuchinmonkeys on Social Media: A Threat for Species Conservation There remains a debate as to whether the display of wild animals in popular media, such as the Internet, contributes toward or erodes conservation behavior. A good model to assess these impacts are capuchin monkeys (genera Cebus and Sapajus), given that they have historically been traded as pets internationally and are among Hollywood’s most famous primate actors. We used crowdsourcing tools to survey social media posts (YouTube and Instagram) and news/reports (on Google) to investigate how these primates are currently portrayed on the Internet. We found 1138 capuchin-related videos on YouTube, and the ones with more than 1 million views mainly (71%) portrayed these animals as pets. Searches on Instagram identified that #capuchinmonkey had 39,000 more posts than #Cebus or #Sapajus, of which the top results (those that generated the most engagement) were posts of individuals in anthropogenic environments and/or close to humans. Our Google search identified an exponential growth of news related to the legal and illegal pet trade of capuchin monkeys since 2017, which could be related to the increase on the reach and engagement of social media posts with these primates as pets. Poor scientific knowledge or interest, along with engagement with exotic pet trade content among Internet users, may lead to negative consequences for species conservation. Given the threats facing both capuchin monkeys and other animals, including increasing habitat fragmentation and loss, it is essential to establish clear policies surrounding wildlife content management on social media. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Anthrozoös Taylor & Francis

#capuchinmonkeys on Social Media: A Threat for Species Conservation

Download PDF
19 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/taylor-francis/capuchinmonkeys-on-social-media-a-threat-for-species-conservation-kOAES3GZNC

References (91)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2023 International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ)
ISSN
1753-0377
eISSN
0892-7936
DOI
10.1080/08927936.2023.2210440
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

There remains a debate as to whether the display of wild animals in popular media, such as the Internet, contributes toward or erodes conservation behavior. A good model to assess these impacts are capuchin monkeys (genera Cebus and Sapajus), given that they have historically been traded as pets internationally and are among Hollywood’s most famous primate actors. We used crowdsourcing tools to survey social media posts (YouTube and Instagram) and news/reports (on Google) to investigate how these primates are currently portrayed on the Internet. We found 1138 capuchin-related videos on YouTube, and the ones with more than 1 million views mainly (71%) portrayed these animals as pets. Searches on Instagram identified that #capuchinmonkey had 39,000 more posts than #Cebus or #Sapajus, of which the top results (those that generated the most engagement) were posts of individuals in anthropogenic environments and/or close to humans. Our Google search identified an exponential growth of news related to the legal and illegal pet trade of capuchin monkeys since 2017, which could be related to the increase on the reach and engagement of social media posts with these primates as pets. Poor scientific knowledge or interest, along with engagement with exotic pet trade content among Internet users, may lead to negative consequences for species conservation. Given the threats facing both capuchin monkeys and other animals, including increasing habitat fragmentation and loss, it is essential to establish clear policies surrounding wildlife content management on social media.

Journal

Anthrozoös – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jul 4, 2023

Keywords: Ethnoprimatology; human–animal interaction; pet trade; social media; wildlife trafficking

There are no references for this article.