Human Dimensions of Animal Exploitation: Towards Understanding the International Wildlife Trade and Selfie-Tourism on Twitter

Sean P Rogers, Jeremiah Onaolapo

Abstract:

This study investigates statements of participation in an exploitative
animal activity on social media website Twitter. The data include
social posts (tweets) related to two exploited species - the sloth
(N=32,119), and the elephant (N=15,160). Tweets for each of these
case studies were examined and labeled. The initial results reveal
several features of interaction with exploited species. Namely, there
are a high number of tweets indicating that individuals participated
in exploited species activities during vacations in destinations that
double as native countries for the exploited species. The data also
indicate that a large number of exploited species activities take
place at fairs, carnivals, and circuses. These initial results shed light
on the trends in human participation in activities with exploited
species. These findings will offer insight to stakeholders seeking
to bolster education programs and quantify the level of animal
exploitation.