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Toomes A, García‐Díaz P, Stringham OC, Ross JV, Mitchell L, Cassey P. Drivers of the Australian native pet trade: the role of species traits, socioeconomic attributes and regulatory systems. J Appl Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Toomes
- Invasion Science and Wildlife Ecology Group The University of Adelaide Adelaide SA Australia
| | - Pablo García‐Díaz
- School of Biological Sciences, Zoology Building University of Aberdeen Aberdeen UK
| | - Oliver C. Stringham
- Invasion Science and Wildlife Ecology Group The University of Adelaide Adelaide SA Australia
- School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace Adelaide SA Australia
| | - Joshua V. Ross
- School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace Adelaide SA Australia
| | - Lewis Mitchell
- School of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace Adelaide SA Australia
| | - Phillip Cassey
- Invasion Science and Wildlife Ecology Group The University of Adelaide Adelaide SA Australia
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Rivera CJ, Mayo D, Hull V. Social-Ecological Interactions Influencing Primate Harvest: Insights From Madagascar. Front Conserv Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2021.776897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Globally, non-human primates face mounting threats due to unsustainable harvest by humans. There is a need to better understand the diverse drivers of primate harvest and the complex social-ecological interactions influencing harvest in shared human-primate systems. Here, we take an interdisciplinary, systems approach to assess how complex interactions among primate biological and ecological characteristics and human social factors affect primate harvest. We apply our approach through a review and synthesis of the literature on lemur harvest in Madagascar, a country with one of the highest primate species richness in the world coupled with high rates of threatened primate species and populations in decline. We identify social and ecological factors affecting primate harvest, including the characteristics of lemurs that may make them vulnerable to harvest by humans; factors describing human motivations for (or deterrents to) harvest; and political and governance factors related to power and accessibility. We then discuss social-ecological interactions that emerge from: (1) the prevalence of informal institutions (e.g., cultural taboos), (2) adoption of human predatory strategies, (3) synergies with habitat use and habitat loss, and (4) interactions among regional- and local-scale factors (multi-level interactions). Our results illustrate that social-ecological interactions influencing lemur harvest in Madagascar are complex and context-specific, while influenced by a combination of interactions between species-specific characteristics and human social factors. These context-specific interactions may be also influenced by local-level cultural practices, land use change, and effects from regional-level social complexities such as political upheaval and food insecurity. We conclude by discussing the importance of identifying and explicitly accounting for nuances in underlying social-ecological systems and putting forth ideas for future research on primate harvest in shared human-primate systems, including research on social-ecological feedbacks and the application of Routine Activities Theory.
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Siriwat P, Nekaris KAI, Nijman V. Digital media and the modern-day pet trade: a test of the ‘Harry Potter effect’ and the owl trade in Thailand. ENDANGER SPECIES RES 2020. [DOI: 10.3354/esr01006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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Norconk MA, Atsalis S, Tully G, Santillán AM, Waters S, Knott CD, Ross SR, Shanee S, Stiles D. Reducing the primate pet trade: Actions for primatologists. Am J Primatol 2019; 82:e23079. [PMID: 31876316 PMCID: PMC9286354 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Revised: 12/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
This commentary emerged from a panel presentation at the International Primatological Society Congress in Nairobi, Kenya, 2018. The goal was to provide regional updates on the status of primate removal from habitat countries, especially for the pet trade, and develop guidelines that could help primatologists address this critical problem. The trade in live primates includes those used as pets, in entertainment, and as subjects of biomedical experimentation, but here we focus on those primates destined for the pet trade. Such transactions are a hugely lucrative business, impacting hundreds of thousands of individuals annually and affecting the survival of wild populations. Being intimately familiar with primate social behavior, life history and biology, primatologists, whether they work with captive or wild primates, are in a unique position to understand the nature of the trade and attempt to counter its effects. In addition to updating the status of the primate pet trade, we provide recommendations that may help primatologists formulate a plan to deal, locally and regionally, with illegal trafficking in live primates. General guidelines include increasing awareness of local customs, policies and laws; developing collaborative research opportunities for local people; engaging in training/informational opportunities; and instructing on how to take action when encountering illegally-trafficked primates.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gregg Tully
- Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), Portland, Oregon
| | - Ana Maria Santillán
- Departamento de Etología, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico.,Centro Mexicano de Rehabilitación de Primates A.C., Vera Cruz, Mexico
| | - Siân Waters
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham, UK.,Barbary Macaque Awareness & Conservation, Morocco
| | - Cheryl D Knott
- Departments of Anthropology and Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.,Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program, West Kalimantan, Indonesia
| | - Stephen R Ross
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Sam Shanee
- Neotropical Primate Conservation, Cornwall, UK
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Siriwat P, Nekaris K, Nijman V. The role of the anthropogenic Allee effect in the exotic pet trade on Facebook in Thailand. J Nat Conserv 2019; 51:125726. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jnc.2019.125726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Reuter KE, LaFleur M, Clarke TA, Holiniaina Kjeldgaard F, Ramanantenasoa I, Ratolojanahary T, Ratsimbazafy J, Rodriguez L, Schaeffer T, Schaefer MS. A national survey of household pet lemur ownership in Madagascar. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216593. [PMID: 31067269 PMCID: PMC6506143 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Primates are extracted from the wild for the pet trade across the world. In Madagascar, lemurs are kept as illegal pets and an understanding of lemur pet ownership at the national level is lacking. In 2013 and 2016, we undertook a national survey in 11 of Madagascar's 22 administrative regions (n = 28 towns) with 1,709 households. To our knowledge, this is the first national survey of the household ownership of pet primates in a country where they are endemic. In the 1.5 years prior to being surveyed, 8% ± 4% (towns as replicates) of respondents had seen a captive lemur while a further 0.7% ± 0.5% of respondents had owned one personally. We estimate that 33,428 ± 24,846 lemurs were kept in Malagasy households in the six months prior to our survey efforts, with 18,462 ± 12,963 of these pet lemurs estimated in urban household alone. Rates of lemur ownership did not differ by province but increased with the human population of a town and with the popularity of the town on Flickr (a proxy indicator for tourism). We found that the visibility of pet lemur ownership did not differ across the country, but it did increase with the size of the town and popularity with tourists. Areas with visible pet lemurs were not always the areas with the highest rates of pet lemur ownership, highlighting that many pet lemurs are hidden from the general public. Our study highlights the need for conservation programs to consider both the proportion of inhabitants that own pet lemurs and the total number of lemurs that are potentially being kept as pets in those towns. We close by noting that for some species, even just a small amount of localized live extraction for pet ownership could be enough to cause localized population extinctions over time. Moreover, an urgent response is needed to combat a recent and alarming rise in illegal exploitation of biodiversity across Madagascar.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim E. Reuter
- Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Conservation International, Nairobi, Kenya
- The Biodiversity Consultancy, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Marni LaFleur
- University of San Diego, San Diego, California, United States of America
- Lemur Love, Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Tara A. Clarke
- Lemur Love, Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - Jonah Ratsimbazafy
- Groupe d’étude et de recherche sur les primates de Madagascar, Madagascar
| | - Lucia Rodriguez
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Lemur Conservation Network, Washington, DC, United States of America
| | - Toby Schaeffer
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
| | - Melissa S. Schaefer
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Salt Lake City Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
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Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Tara A. Clarke
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Kim E. Reuter
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
| | - Marni LaFleur
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Lemur Love Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Melissa S. Schaefer
- Pet Lemur Survey Initiative, housed by the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Anthropology Program, Salt Lake City Community College, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
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