Seeing is Believing: Repeated Exposure to Animals in Anthropomorphic Contexts Promotes Desire for Exotic Pets

What is it about?

Past research has found that seeing wild animals in human-like settings can influence people to think wild animals could be good pets and are not endangered. This new study found for the first time that seeing these types of images over and over can cause people to become more and more convinced that wild animals are suitable pets. It usually is not the case that wild animals are suitable for ownership, and the belief that they are contributes to the exotic pet trade. This is harmful because the exotic pet trade has negative impacts on land and species conservation.

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