How To Responsibly Consume Social Media Surrounding Wildlife
In the past few episodes of the podcast (eps. 73-75), we’ve gone over some horror stories of what can happen when people own exotic pets, ranging from tigers, to lions, to bears. Thanks to Sophiane, better known as HonkIfUrHoary on social media, we all now have an in-depth knowledge of what can go on behind the scenes when we see ‘cute’ videos on platforms like TikTok, Facebook or Instagram of big cats and other exotic pets.
So how can we all contribute to the eradication of this kind of content, which often results in the mistreatment of exotic pets?
Look for direct contact with wildlife. Whether this be someone petting their ‘pet lion’ or feeding raccoons out their kitchen window, handling of wildlife is never a good idea. In episode 74 of our podcast, for example, we talk about raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris) and the fact that 90% of raccoons have it, and in species outside of raccoons, the roundworms can enter the brains of their non-raccoon hosts. Handling wildlife often come with a disease risk, ranging from things like raccoon roundworm to something as deadly as rabies. Also, I’ll take this time to remind everyone that anytime anyone interacts with a wild rabies-vector species (like someone handling a baby skunk in their backyard), your state health department is likely to require that animal to be euthanized to test for a rabies (because the only rabies test is by testing the brainstem). But as we mentioned in episode 75, even if someone argues “but this animal has had human interaction its whole life!”, that’s not an excuse to not give their exotic pet more appropriate enrichment (for example, petting your pet lion is not a replacement for them being housed with other lions who can socialize with them more naturally).
Watch out for multiple species cohabitating with each other. In the wild, you would never see a mountain lion (native to North America) with an African lion. Mountain lions and African lions do not naturally overlap or cohabitate at all, and therefore it’s unsafe for the smaller mountain lion to be in closed quarters with the larger African lion. Predators of different species are not supposed to live in cages together, but these content creators may put them together to get engagement for an “unlikely duo”. Also keep an eye out for the opposite; Some social animals, like the spotted hyena, are supposed to live in a group and being housed with other members of their species is vital to their well-being. If you see a social animal like a spotted hyena alone, that’s a red flag.
Are the exotic pets kept inside the home? A human’s kitchen is not a safe space for a mountain lion, both for the humans and the cat. Not only is it not natural, but many chemicals in our homes can negatively effect wildlife. For example, did you know you can’t even cook with teflon pans if you own a bird that lives inside your home? Not to mention, once again, the disease risk posed by being in close quarters with wild animals. Even if someone claims to be a wildlife rehabilitator, they should always be housing a wild animal in an enclosure as closely resembling their natural habitat (some wildlife rehabbers have ‘ambassador’ animals that cannot be released, but be very mindful of the way they post about those animals). Anyone owning a dangerous exotic pet should have their pet kept in an enclosure that keeps everyone safe - both the animals and the humans the animals may try to harm.
Consider how you contribute to engagement. Commenting contributes to a video’s engagement, and unfortunately, on many social media sites (we’re looking at you, TikTok), whoever created the content can delete comments then block you from ever commenting again. That’s usually why you don’t see many negative comments on these types of accounts on TikTok - they just delete and block and move on. The best course of action is to let whatever website you’re on know that you’re not interested in that content and report the videos for something like ‘Dangerous Activity’; These websites don’t know the things going on behind the scenes, so they won’t ban an account for animal abuse that they don’t know about. But pointing out that it’s a dangerous activity to pet a lion could help at least put a warning on the video.
If you’re suspicious of an account or organization, go to the USDA APHS website and look up the name or person behind it to see if they are licensed and what violations they may have. Although the laws surrounding what goes on in these organizations may be loose, this could still be a good method to see exactly how bad these organizations could be. Even a quick Google of the organization may reveal investigations into abuse going on behind the scenes.
None of these steps are very time consuming, because we don’t expect everyone to do an in-depth investigation that involves reaching out to state and federal governments to get documents about violations and crimes. But Sophiane did, so thank her on whatever social media you’re on! Single Vision Inc is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to these social media ‘influencers’ that own exotic pets, so please continue to be critical of whatever your algorithm is serving you. Maybe one day these people can be held more accountable for how they care for their animals.
