ArticlePloS one2021
Is YouTube promoting the exotic pet trade? Analysis of the global public perception of popular YouTube videos featuring threatened exotic animals.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Capuchin monkey (Sapajus spp.) diet: current knowledge, gaps, and future directions.Primates; journal of primatology · 2023Pooled it
- Emotional and attitudinal responses to social media depictions of human-wildlife interactions at wildlife tourist attractions.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2026Article
- Human-elephant conflict in communities bordering Kruger National Park: Revealing causes and unpicking social media narratives.PloS one · 2026Article
- A Framework to Analyze Primate Species Vulnerability to Trade in Urban Markets.American journal of primatology · 2025Article
- Context Matters: How Decontextualization Influences Public Perception and Conservation Attitudes Toward Barbary Macaques in Algeria.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Behind the Trend: An Examination of Primate Content on TikTok.American journal of primatology · 2025Article
- Harnessing YouTube in advancing biodiversity conservation efforts and awareness across Africa.PeerJ · 2025Article
- Wildlife Photos on Social Media: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Conservation Organisations' Instagram Images.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The exploitation of threatened exotic species via social media challenges efforts to regulate the exotic pet trade and consequently threatens species conservation. To investigate how such content is perceived by the global community, mixed model sentiment analysis techniques were employed to explore variations in attitudes expressed through text and emoji usage in public comments associated with 346 popular YouTube® videos starring exotic wild cats or primates in 'free handling' situations. Negative interactions between wild cats and primates with other species were found to be associated with both text and emoji median sentiment reduction, however were still accompanied by a median emoji sentiment above zero. Additionally, although a negative trend in median text sentiment was observed in 2015 for primates, an otherwise consistent positive median text and emoji sentiment score through time across all IUCN Red List categories was revealed in response to both exotic wild cat and primate videos, further implying the societal normalisation and acceptance of exotic pets. These findings highlight the urgency for effective YouTube® policy changes and content management to promote public education and conservation awareness, whilst extinguishing false legitimisation and demand for the exotic pet trade.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.