Ubiquitous Love or Not? Animal Welfare and Animal-Informed Consent in Giant Panda Tourism

Abstract

Scholars argue that the ubiquity of the “virtual panda”—the panda people meet in zoos and consume as souvenirs, online memes, or videos—exists in a state of hybridity between wild and domesticated. The species has garnered a significant amount of attention because of their iconic status and because of how cute they are to an adoring crowd. However, given the degree of regard tourists have for the panda, there is a dearth of research on different types of visitors to captive panda venues. In filling this gap, we investigated (1) how deeply Chinese “fans” and “non-fans” consider the welfare of captive giant pandas, and (2) if these groups differ in their assessment of whether giant pandas consent to being used as tourist attractions. In both aims, we apply a recent model on animal welfare and animal consent to giant pandas of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

How does perception of zoo animal welfare influence public attitudes, experiences, and behavioural intentions? A mixed-methods systematic review

“…This creates a potential conflict for zoos, who need to house enough desirable species to attract visitors while simultaneously providing reassurance that these animals –possessing traits which also make them more challenging to house in welfare-friendly ways-- receive adequate care within a captive setting. Indeed, a noted influential factor to captivity acceptability was ‘likeability’, as more ‘likable’ animals also garnered higher levels of welfare concern [36, 92, 93].…”

“…Use of environmental enrichment consistently had a positive impact on welfare perceptions [18, 29, 35, 37, 38, 43, 44, 47, 50, 54, 62, 64, 73, 90, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99–102, 107, 110, 116, 119, 131, 133–139], including feeding-related enrichment [99–102, 136, 138]. Positive perceptions of feeding enrichment are not surprising, as the act of feeding in any circumstance increased welfare perceptions [61, 95, 99, 102].…”

“…Many studies identified the importance of zoo animals being kept in species-appropriate group sizes and having social needs met in mediating perceptions of welfare [19, 29, 32, 38, 54, 66, 72, 90, 93, 96, 107, 110, 111, 132], with social isolation being a primary factor of concern [32, 38, 66, 110, 111]. At the same time, one study identified that visitors also worry about overcrowding [29] and another showed that mixed species exhibits provoked concern if the mix included an animal perceived as dangerous [70].…”

“…Diet. Beliefs that zoo animals had access to adequate and appropriate diets and clean water were consistently associated with more positive welfare perceptions amongst visitors [11,16,19,32,39,40,43,44,54,59,68,70,90,93,96,100,101,111], though visitors' conception of what constitutes "appropriate" is unclear. Carcass feeding was perceived as beneficial to welfare [100,101,138], though reasoning behind such perceptions is unclear, as natural behaviour display was not always considered an indicator of welfare [100].…”

Feasibility and Development Strategies for Mangrove Fruit-Based Products in Karawang, West Java

“…This product [40] is marketed as a souvenir for tourists. Apart from the benefits of products as food, beverages, and health, these products consumers consider as souvenirs or gifts [41], these products can also be consumed as souvenirs, online memes, or videos [42]. However, the development of mangrove forests faces uncertain weather problems due to global warming.…”