把野生動物當寵物養：社群媒體潮流開啟了野生動物受苦的惡性循環
社群媒體用戶為了按讚數、留言與點閱率，正在使野生動物，如猴子、老虎和蜥蜴，承受「心理和生理上的虐待」。反對社群媒體虐待動物聯盟（Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition, SMACC）提出了證據證明：許多網路上的內容創作者們會為了提升關注度及人氣，飼養及虐待野生動物（其中包含不少頻危物種）。
台灣SPCA與全世界13家動物保護團體組成的聯盟 SMACC（隸屬亞洲動物福利聯盟 Asia for Animals Coalition 旗下組織），針對不同網路平台進行研究，研究指出社群媒體有著助長飼養野生動物的惡劣趨勢。SMACC自 2021 年 9 月至 2022 年 10 月，共搜集840 個來自Facebook、YouTube、Instagram、TikTok 和 Twitter 等平台的影片，而這些影片當中呈現了人們在家中飼養各種野生動物的亂象。
SMACC 發現至少 97 種野生動物被當做寵物飼養，種類遍及蜘蛛、猴子、魚類和熊科動物，而當中有高達 65%是瀕危物種，例如食蟹猴和老虎，且有些還涉及極度瀕危的物種，如紅毛猩猩。
這些影片很容易在平台上搜尋及瀏覽，當中能看到幼獅穿著尿布、嬰猴穿著嬰兒服、猴子使用奶瓶餵食、老虎被拴上牽繩、還有各式各樣奇特的動物被當做寵物飼養。社群用戶則會分享這些短片，留言讚賞這些動物的可愛模樣，再者也有不少人詢問該透過什麼管道取得、購買與飼養牠們。
在報告中，SMACC 概述了這些影片是如何合理化飼養野生動物，進而增進了大眾的飼養慾望與需求。這些需求損害動物福祉並同時助長野生動物貿易，其中更包含瀕危物種。社群媒體已經成為野生動物貿易的的關鍵驅動力，不論是否合法交易，都可以透過網路平台或通訊軟體，如 Whatsapp 進行。研究顯示，部分野外動物數量正在下降的源頭，正是寵物貿易的需求上升導致。
由明星或網紅帶動的風氣與潮流，導致許多人誤以為野生動物適合當作寵物飼養。在爆紅的影片中，懶猴（slow lorise）被搔癢後抬起了牠們的手臂，在不懂動物習性的網友眼中，看似在跟動物玩耍的反應，專家卻表示，這動作是懶猴因恐懼所展現出的防禦行為。民眾在誤以為這種行為無害的情況下，這些影片無非是創造更多獵捕野生動物行為和寵物貿易市場需求的幕後推手。
SMACC首席專員Nicola O’Brien 說明：
「大部分的人在社群媒體上觀看那 30 秒短片時，並不會注意到當中大量的殘忍行為。也許在他們眼中，就只是一個充滿愛心的飼主正在餵小老虎喝奶，然而實際上，眼前是一個瀕危物種，過去與未來將承受大量的苦難。野生動物不適合居住於人類住宅內，亦會造成動物生心理傷害，且這些動物的取得往往是透過非法且危險的跨國交易，將嚴重影響牠們的動物福利及瀕危物種的保育工作。這種社群影片會造成動物受苦的惡性循環。」
為了社群媒體上的按讚數、分享，創作者與他們飼養的動物上演各種互動，就為了產出更多可發布的內容。許多影片中，人們會幫動物穿上人類的衣服，並促使動物表現出「類人類」行為，或刻意讓動物處於不良的情境中。有些互動行為也導致周遭的人暴露於潛在的危險，例如有些影片呈現小老虎被帶進健身房，鱷魚跟孩子同住，以及人們和成年的寵物老虎一同游泳等。
令人難過的是，有些動物的身體受到極度嚴重的虐待。有很多影片會看到飼主以「管教」名義包裝，毆打或賞動物巴掌。還有最令人擔憂的是，創作者為了拍攝動物的真實反應，經常締造危險的環境，並將動物放置其中，例如讓動物身處於即將溺水、窒息或受傷的環境。甚至有些影片還顯示動物遭受飼主的性虐待。
SMACC已經向社群平台檢舉這些影片並要求下架，然而仍有許多影片持續在這些網路平台流竄，民眾仍可輕易瀏覽，並未全數下架。
SMACC 積極聯繫了數個社群平台，迫切的請求他們下架這些影片，並同時提議，能夠協助平台改善相關政策。目前 Meta 以及 TikTok 已經和 SMACC 接洽，然而除了上述兩個企業，其他平台皆未給予任何回應。社群平台往往選擇「迴避責任」的方式處立此類事件，因此目前的進展仍非常緩慢。
SMACC 表示：
「坦白說，社群媒體平台對於虐待動物的嚴重問題並沒有付諸太多行動。他們仰賴使用者舉報違規內容，但卻在收到通報後往往不將其下架。平台的自動偵查系統也不足，這些公司並未堅守自己訂定的政策規範。我們的報告顯示，平台的消極作為造就了野生動物成為「寵物」的惡性循環，我們強烈要求他們停止迴避責任並立即付諸行動。」
FAQ
⚠️那個平台問題最嚴重？
雖然我們的數據顯示 Meta（Facebook 、 Instagram）和 Youtube的視頻數量最多，但我們知道這些結果不一定能代表此類內容在社交媒體平台上的總體分佈情況。原因可能是我們的志工對這些平台比較熟悉，而搜尋不同平台影片的難易程度也會有影響。
⚠️那一個國家最嚴重？
在SMACC的數據收集中，我們沒有記錄內容來自哪個國家，因為我們一方面想表明這是一個全球性的問題，而不僅僅是集中在一個國家或地區，另一方面希望將焦點放在被虐待的動物身上以及牠們所遭受的虐待類型。虐待動物是一個全球性問題，無論影片是在何處創建、上傳或共享的，而且社交媒體並沒有界限。此內容可被任何人觀看或轉發。
⚠️向平台檢舉有用嗎？
我們知道，向平台檢舉如果沒有收到回應會令人非常沮喪，再加上這些公司明顯不積極行動，人們可能會想要放棄或停止向他們舉發影片。然而，如果個別的檢舉不足以做出改變，我們相信全球民眾聯合並持續督促，將有助於使局勢朝著正確的方向發展。這就是 SMACC 不斷尋求與社交媒體平台對話的原因，以及為什麼大眾必須繼續檢舉，你們的行動也會支持到我們正在進行的工作。這些不同平台如何處理大眾的檢舉案還有很多需要細究的部分，我們真誠地鼓勵人們繼續檢舉這些影像，我們也會持續的與平台溝通如何改善他們的政策。
⚠️為什麼被其他社群媒體平台禁止發布或撤銷帳號的人，能持續在其他平台發佈虐待動物的影像及畫面？
每一個社交媒體平台都有自訂官方政策及使用者規範。據我們所知，這些平台不會交叉共享資訊。許多平台的虐待動物影像即使已經明顯違反平台規範，或甚至已經被民眾檢舉，平台卻都還無法妥善處理。有些頻道即使被平台刪除，創作者也會再次使用不同帳號建立新頻道，並重複發布這些影像。
完整新聞稿：https://bit.ly/3HkfoDO
更多資訊：www.smaccoalition.com
英文版完整報告：https://bit.ly/3uALZgQ
💪感謝翻譯志工 「涵予」
Spotlight report: Wild animals ‘pets’ on social media: a vicious cycle of suffering
Press release Nov 2022
Wild animals as pets: a vicious cycle of suffering caused by social media trends
Wild animals such as monkeys, tigers and lizards are being “psychologically and physically tortured” for likes and comments on social media. Animal protection experts, the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC), have located evidence of content creators abusing wild animals kept as pets, many of them endangered species, for online popularity.
The Asia for Animals SMAC Coalition, made up of 13 animal protection organizations, conducted research into the online trend in wildlife as pets, which it says is being fueled by social media. Between September 2021 and October 2022, SMACC recorded 840 videos from Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, depicting a wide range of wild animal species being kept as pets in people’s homes.
From spiders to monkeys, fishes to bears, SMACC identified at least 97 different species being kept as pets. SMACC confirmed that many of the animals depicted were endangered species such as long-tailed macaques and tigers, up to 65%, and some even critically endangered such as orangutans.
Such videos, which are very easy to find on social media platforms, show wild animals such as lion cubs wearing nappies, bushbabies dressed in baby clothes, monkeys fed bottles of milk, tigers being held on leads and other exotic animals being kept as pets. Users on these platforms often share this footage, commenting on how ‘cute’ the animals appear and enquiring on how to acquire one themselves.
In a new report “Wild animal ‘pets’ on social media: a vicious cycle of suffering”, SMACC outlines how these videos normalize the keeping of wild species as pets, leading to an increase in their demand. This, in turn, has detrimental impacts on animal welfare and also fuels the trade in wild animals as pets, including endangered species. Social media has become a key driver in the trade in wild animals, with both legal and illegal trade taking place online and in communication apps such as Whatsapp. Research has shown how some species are seeing a decline in population numbers in the wild, in part due to the demand for the pet trade.
Viral trends, often exacerbated by celebrities or influencers, have led to widespread mis-education about the suitability of wild animals as pets. Viral videos showed slow lorises being tickled who raise their arms in response. Experts have pointed out that this may appear playful, but is in fact a defensive behavior showing the animal is fearful. This content, mis-interpreted as harmless, also risks creating more demand for their capture and sale for the pet trade.
SMACC Lead Coordinator Nicola O’Brien stated:
“Most people watching on social media do not see the vast amount of cruelty that has been perpetrated against animals for that 30 second video. What may look like a loving owner feeding their pet tiger with milk, what they are seeing is actually an endangered species who has and will suffer immensely. As well as the unsuitability of a human home for any wild animal causing physical and psychological damage, obtaining these animals supports a dangerous and often illegal worldwide trade, threatening animal welfare and endangered species protection. This is the vicious cycle of suffering behind these videos.”
The drive for likes and shares leads creators to stage situations with their animals, to produce new content. Many videos show wild animals being dressed in human clothes, made to perform ‘human’ type behaviors or brought into unsuitable settings. Some of the actions are potentially risky for the humans involved too. In one video, a woman takes a tiger cub into a fitness gym.
Others show crocodiles living with children, and humans swimming with fully grown pet tigers. Sadly, in many videos, physical animal abuse amounts to the extreme. Often, animals are hit and slapped by their owners to seemingly ‘discipline’ them. Disturbingly, creators put animals in dangerous situations to film their reactions, risking the animal drowning, suffocating or becoming injured. In a series of videos, baby monkeys are hung from logs in a fast flowing river, in danger of slipping and drowning. Disturbingly, some animals are also shown being sexually abused by their owners.
All of these videos have been reported to the social media platforms, but the vast majority are still live for anyone to watch, as of reporting.
SMACC has reached out to a number of social media platforms, urging them to remove such content and offering to assist them in improving their policies. So far Meta and TikTok have been in discussion with SMACC but no other platforms have responded. SMACC reports progress is very slow, with social media platforms “avoiding their responsibilities”.
SMACC stated:
“Social media platforms are frankly just not doing enough to deal with the vast amounts of content that perpetuates animal cruelty on their platforms. They rely on the public to report offending content to them and yet still do not remove it. They do not do enough to automatically detect gross abuse content and uphold their own policies. What our report shows is that their inaction leads to a vicious cycle of cruelty for wild animals kept as pets, and we are urging them to stop avoiding their responsibilities and take action.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
SMACC
The AfA Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) is composed of thirteen well-known and respected animal advocacy organizations who share the aim of stopping the proliferation of animal cruelty content on social media platforms. Social media giants continue to facilitate the sharing, promotion and even monetisation of cruelty content, resulting in astronomical numbers of likes, follows and views for animal suffering and abuse ranging from the subtle to the extreme. SMACC is a collaboration by various members of the Asia for Animals Coalition network.
SMACC MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Action for Primates
nimals Asia Foundation
Born Free USA
Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations
Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries
Humane Society International
International Animal Rescue
Lady Freethinker
Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA)
PETA Asia 亚洲善待动物组织
Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 台灣防止虐待動物協會
World Animal Protection
Welttierschutzgesellschaft e.V (WTG)
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please refer to the SMACC website as a reputable source:www.smaccoalition.com
For additional information or interview requests, please contact:
Nicola O’Brien, SMACC Lead Coalition Coordinator, Asia for Animals Coalition,
smacc@asiaforanimals.com
