Exploring the Role of Wealth and Religion on the Ownership of Captive Lemurs in Madagascar Using Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Reuter, Kim E.; Clarke, Tara; LaFleur, Marni; Ratsimbazafy, Jonah; Kjeldgaard, Fabiola Holiniaina; Rodríguez, Lucía González; Schaeffer, Toby; Schaefer, M.

doi:10.1159/000477400

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…We also found that, while population density and unemployment rate significantly correlated with trade dynamics, they had very low explanatory power and are therefore likely to have less influence on trade dynamics compared to species traits and trade regulation. By contrast, consumers in other pet markets are known to either have higher disposable incomes compared with non-consumers (Alves et al 2019), or associate pet ownership with wealthy status (Reuter et al 2018). Norconk et al (2020);and Bennett et al (2021) suggest that wealth inequality (i.e., relative wealth), rather than absolute wealth, is a driver for both the harvesting and consumption of wildlife, including live pets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of the live pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems

Toomes¹,

García‐Díaz²,

Stringham³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The live pet trade is a major driver of both biodiversity loss and the introduction of invasive alien species. Building a comprehensive understanding of the pet trade would improve prediction of conservation and biosecurity threats, with the aim to prevent further negative impacts. We used South Australia’s native wildlife permit reporting system as a data-rich example of a live vertebrate pet market, spanning 590 species across 105 families of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians). Using a piecewise Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach, we tested the influence of 11 a priori variables relating to pets (e.g., species traits), pet owners (e.g., socioeconomic metrics), and regulatory systems (e.g., permit requirements) on the quantities of bird and reptile captive keeping, breeding, trading, and escapes into the wild. Birds and reptiles with higher annual fecundity, as well as widely distributed reptiles with higher adult mass, were more likely to be kept in captivity and sold. Species with more stringent permit requirements were possessed, and escaped, in lower abundances. Pet keeping was weakly correlated with regions of lower population densities and higher unemployment rates, yet other socioeconomic variables were ultimately poor at explaining trade dynamics. More escapes occurred in regions which possessed larger quantities of pets, further emphasising the role of propagule pressure in the risk of pet escapes.Synthesis and applications: Species traits are a strong determinant of pet trade dynamics, yet permit systems also play a key role in de-incentivising undesirable trade practices. While our research highlights the potential of trade regulatory systems, we recommend that consistent permit category criteria are established to reduce trade in threatened species, as well as alien species of high biosecurity risk. Implementation of such systems is broadly needed across a greater diversity of wildlife markets and jurisdictions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of the live pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems

Toomes¹,

García‐Díaz²,

Stringham³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Furthermore, in 2016, a short clip of a habituated ring-tailed lemur Lemur catta was circulated, reaching over 20 million viewers within a few weeks. This post similarly led to a marked increase in search trends for 'lemurs' but also to an increase in direct references to 'wanting a lemur' pet (Clarke et al 2019; see also Reuter et al 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital media and the modern-day pet trade: a test of the ‘Harry Potter effect’ and the owl trade in Thailand

Siriwat¹,

Nekaris²,

Nijman³

2020

Endang. Species. Res.

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We explored the influence of film and media on the exotic pet trade using the context of the 'Harry Potter effect' and the owl trade in Thailand as a case study. We compared the owl trade between market surveys dating from 1966 to 2019 in Bangkok's Chatuchak market, to online surveys from 2017 to 2019. Using generalised linear models, we examined whether prices offered for owls could be explained by variables linked to whether the species are featured in the Harry Potter franchise, body size, tameness and temporal/seasonal harvesting. We also tested for an anthropogenic Allee effect by examining the relationship between the availability of owls and asking price. Owls never exceeded 1.3% of the total number of birds for sale in Chatuchak animal market, and we did not observe any owls during our visits in 2011, 2018 and 2019. In contrast, we re corded 311 individuals of 17 species from 206 posts on the online marketplace on Facebook. Owls are offered for sale during all months of each year surveyed but more so from February to April; availability did influence price. We found that price was significantly explained by body mass, but not by association with the Harry Potter franchise or by tameness. We found that owls have become more popular as pets, and as they are potentially sourced from the wild, this inevitably causes conservation concerns. Owls are just one of many taxa suffering from the unregulated and accessible marketplace that social media sites offer to vendors.

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“…We show here, the unintentional sharing of images/video featuring lemurs in non-natural settings and close to humans, can have indirect impacts on how English-speaking people perceive these wild animals. This may also be the case in Madagascar, where there is already published anecdotal evidence that ‘selfies’ posted with pet lemurs (often on Facebook) can show wealth or are considered ‘cool’ [55]. Therefore, any conservationists, primatologists, and/or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should be aware of this context when they put information about lemurs on social media, as there is the risk that the information is misperceived both by English and non-English speaking audiences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A viral video and pet lemurs on Twitter

et al. 2019

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Content shared on social media platforms can impact public perceptions of wildlife. These perceptions, which are in part shaped by context (e.g. non-naturalistic setting, presence of a human), can influence people’s desires to interact with or acquire wild animals as pets. However, few studies have examined whether this holds true for wild animals featured in viral videos. This study reports on opportunistic data collected on Twitter before, during, and after a video that featured a habituated ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), called “Sefo”, in southern Madagascar went ‘viral’ (i.e. circulated rapidly on the internet). Our dataset of 13,953 tweets (from an 18.5-week time period in early 2016) referencing lemurs was collected using targeted keywords on the Twitonomy Service. We identified 613 individual tweets about people wanting a lemur as a pet. In addition, 744 tweets that were captured in our dataset linked to the Sefo viral video. We found that as the number of tweets about the viral video increased, so did the number of tweets where an individual wanted to have a lemur as a pet. Most tweets (91%) did not make reference to a specific species of lemur, but when they did, they often (82%) referenced ring-tailed lemurs (L. catta), ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.), and mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.). This study serves as a case study to consider how viral content can impact how wild animals are perceived. We close by noting that social media sites like Twitter, which are increasingly providing their users with news and information, should carefully consider how information about wild animals is shared on their platforms, as it may impact animal welfare.

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Exploring the Role of Wealth and Religion on the Ownership of Captive Lemurs in Madagascar Using Qualitative and Quantitative Data

Cited by 10 publications

References 15 publications

Drivers of the live pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems

Drivers of the live pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems

Digital media and the modern-day pet trade: a test of the ‘Harry Potter effect’ and the owl trade in Thailand

A viral video and pet lemurs on Twitter

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