Reading the news can be something of an emotional rollercoaster
at the best of times. Social media and internet allows the reading and sharing
of stories at the click of a button. 24 hour news channels cater for our desire
for access to information at any hour, day or night. Our ability to access the news
is without bounds.
And so much of it seems to be bad; war, crime,
recession, poverty, homelessness, violence - all there for the reading. Good
news can often seem in short supply and I am sure that, like me, you read a
heart-warming story of victory, success or triumph with pleasure. As a charity campaigner,
I know that when we report good news to our members, it is met with an influx
of enthusiastic responses all saying more or less the same thing: “It’s so nice
to read some good news for a change!” It delights us to report it, and it
delights our supporters to read it.
And the national press is no different; it needs its fair
share of good news, light relief and fun. It is common for that light relief to
be delivered via a heart-warming story about an animal doing something funny,
cute or downright wacky. Exotic animals doing something funny, cute or
downright wacky is great. Baby exotic animals doing something funny, cute or
downright wacky is even better. Children and baby exotic animals doing something
cute, funny or downright wacky is the gold standard. If it causes a laugh, a
smile or a general feeling of “things can’t be that bad if there is such cuteness/fun/wackiness
in the world” then the story has achieved its aim. And it’s all just good harmless
fun, right?
Not really, no.
Just yesterday, an article ticking all of the boxes for cute
was featured
in the Daily Mail:
 |
| Screenshot: Daily Mail 11th May 2013 |
Cute little girl? Check.
Cute young orang-utan? Check.
Staged picnic scene where the ape drinks out of a cup, just
like a human? Check.
The article was lamenting the fact that the little girl, Emily,
would no longer be able to hang out with her best “pri-mate” (the newspaper's pun, not mine) because Rishi the orang-utan
was getting too big and dangerous for her to play with. What the article failed
to mention is that Rishi is owned by a business called T.I.G.E.R.S. Institute;
a company which hires out animals for the entertainment industry, stages the
type of circus style performances that are due to be banned in this country in
the coming years and uses animals as photo props for paying visitors. In reality, being separated
from Emily would appear to be the least of Rishi’s problems.
Just weeks before, a series
of photographs of a baby monkey sitting on the back of a lion cub at Guaipo
Manchurian Tiger Park in China were featured in national news around the world.
The coverage of the photos released by the zoo has been an incredible PR coup
for the business and, on the surface (and dependent on your view of zoos) it might
appear to be another example of good harmless fun. But scratch beneath the surface
and an internet search reveals photos
of an endangered Sumatran tiger cub being exhibited in a city centre on a leash by zoo staff. The photo opportunity was part of a publicity stunt to mark the opening of a “real estate project” in
2010. The extent of the zoo’s use of animals in this way is unclear but
scrutiny of animal welfare at these establishments seems to fall by the wayside
when a cute photo is concerned.
And a week before that, an article entitled “Pimp
my chimp” showed a capuchin monkey kept as a pet in the United States showcasing a
series of “wacky” outfits, ranging from cowboy to pirate to disco dancer. What the article
failed to mention was that the monkey in the photos would not only have been
removed from her mother as an early age to enter into the primate pet trade but
her canine teeth appeared to have been removed; something which some owners do
to evade the dangerous bites of the wild animals. It failed to mention that
this monkey should be living in the forests of South America with her family
troop, not in a domestic home in North America where her complex needs can
never be met.
And it is not just the welfare of the individual animals used in these stunts that is at risk, but research
into the portrayal of chimpanzees in situations such as the photo shoot using
Rishi and Emily has suggested that it could be damaging to conservation efforts
too. It was found that “In 2008, survey data revealed that the public is less
likely to think that chimpanzees are endangered compared to other great apes,
and that this is likely the result of media misportrayals in movies, television
and advertisements”.
Those outlined above are just a few examples of many of these "light relief" stories that
are being put into the public domain on a daily basis by a whole host of media outlets.
Whilst not done with malice or intent to harm, surely it is time that we all started to
look beyond the cute photos and silly stories to understand what this moment of
fun for us might mean for the animals?
The AnimalPledge.org scheme was established in 2012 by a
group of animal protection and conservation organisations to raise awareness within
the media industry on its use of wild animals. If you work in the media, or for
any company that uses the media (advertising or promotions) as part of your
work, please check out the site and consider taking the pledge.
