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Wildlife selfies harm animals − even when scientists share images with warnings in the captions
By Andrea l. DiGiorgio, Princeton University
One of the biggest privileges of being a primatologist is spending time in remote locations with monkeys and apes, living near these animals in their habitats and experiencing their daily lives. As a 21st-century human, I have an immediate impulse to take pictures of these encounters and share them on social media.
Social media can help scientists raise awareness of the species we study, promote their conservation and obtain jobs and research funding. However, sharing images of wild animals online can also contribute to illegal animal trafficking and harmful human-wildlife interactions. For endangered or threatened species, this attention can put them at further risk.
My research seeks to find ways for scientists and conservationists to harness the power of social media while avoiding its pitfalls. My colleague, ecologist and science communicator Cathryn Freund, and I think we have some answers. In our view, wildlife professionals should never include themselves in pictures with animals. We also believe that featuring infant animals and animals interacting with humans leads viewers to think about these creatures in ways that are counterproductive to conservation.
https://youtu.be/pN-FkkUXYOU?si=whCYB7Ry3Yp_UbD1
Show and tell?
Many conservation biologists are thinking hard about what role social media can and should play in their work. For example, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Section on Human-Primate Interactions has issued guidelines for how to use images of wild primates and how to conduct primate watching tours.
These guidelines recommend that when scientists show photos of themselves with a wild primate, the caption should state that the person in the image is a trained researcher or conservationist. However, there isn’t much data assessing whether this approach is effective.
We wanted to test whether people actually read these captions and whether informative captions helped curb viewers’ desires to have similar experiences or to own the animal as a pet.
Read Full Story https://theconversation.com/wildlife-selfies-harm-animals-even-when-scientists-share-images-with-warnings-in-the-captions-220834