Wild animals should be just that: wild. Living their own lives. Left to develop into the creatures they ought to be, surrounded by their animal families and communities.
Yet posts on Instagram are making it look glamorous to capture these wild animals, tear them from their homes, and manhandle them all to get a few "exotic"-looking pictures.
Tell Instagram and its chief executive, Adam Mosseri, to ban photos depicting exotic animal trafficking!Everyday people are using
baby monkeys, rare white tigers, lion cubs, and more as props to make them look cool and interesting. But even worse,
celebrities are promoting the trend and causing these posts' reach to spread far and wide. Famous rappers, Hollywood and Bollywood movie stars, TV personalities, models, Tik Tok and YouTube stars, business executives, and more have all circulated these images, causing endangered and exotic animals to seem less like other living creatures in this world, and more like fashion objects.
Once these infant animals have outgrown their usefulness as status symbols for rich, bored people, their lives are often cut short. They can't be released back into the wild. Yet caring for them becomes expensive and, as the animal grows older, they're seen as too dangerous to be around people.
Many nations have banned keeping exotic animals like these as pets, but that hasn't stopped demand. In fact, exotic animal renting and selling has become a booming, multi-million dollar shadow industry.
What keeps the demand for these animals so high? One major culprit is Instagram photos by glamorous influencers.This horrible practice cannot be allowed to continue!
Sign the petition to demand that Instagram help stop underground animal trafficking!