I thought I saw a pussy cat: Portrayal of wild cats in friendly interactions with humans distorts perceptions and encourages interactions with wild cat species.

Most people lack the opportunity to see non-domesticated animals in the wild. Consequently, people's perception of wild animals is based on what they see on (social) media. The way in which (social) media portrays non-domesticated animals determines our perception of and behaviour to these animals. People like to interact with animals, which is why venues which offer the opportunity to interact with non-domesticated animals are popular wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs). However, these WTAs more often than not profit at the expense of animal welfare, conservation and human safety. Participation in such WTAs should therefore be discouraged. Through (social) media we are regularly exposed to images of non-domesticated animals in close interactions with humans. Exposure to such images seems to blur the line between what is a friendly domesticated animal and what is a potentially dangerous wild animal. Such images may also increase our desire to engage in interactions with non-domesticated animals ourselves and reduce moral concerns about the use of non-domesticated animals for such interactions, thereby promoting WTAs in which tourists can interact with non-domesticated animals. Wild cat species are commonly used in the wildlife tourism industry to interact with tourists. In this study, we determine whether portrayal of wild cat species in interactions with humans promotes WTAs with wild cats. We presented respondents with an image of a wild cat species (lion, cheetah, caracal) in a control setting, walked by a human (WTA), petted by a human (WTA) or in the wild and asked them to answer a fixed set of questions. We found that portraying wild cat species in interactions with humans reduced the fear of wild cats, encouraged people to regard WTAs with wild cats as acceptable and stimulated them to participate in such activities themselves.
Competing Interests: One author (SE) is affiliated to an animal welfare organisation (SPOTS) which raises awareness about the detrimental effect of wildlife tourist attractions on animal welfare. This author contributed to the experimental design and writing of the manuscript. The decision to publish was made jointly and all the authors adhere to the PLOS ONE policies and are satisfied that the presented work is an objective, impartial and fair assessment of the subject area.