Watching videos of animals is fun!But, what kind of videos are okay?
The video opens on a yellow Labrador Retriever reclining in the grass. Suddenly, the camera pans out to show a full-grown tiger barreling towards the resting dog. The moment of impact is tense. What will happen? Will the tiger attack? Will the dog be okay? But, no need to worry! The tiger and dog are said to be “best friends!” And, they proceed to roll around together, wrestling happily. Scroll down to the comments on the video: “They’re best friends!,” and “How cute!,” and “Real friendship!”[teaserbreak]
Another video, a compilation titled “New Funny Animals Compilation,” which has been viewed more than 1.7 million times on YouTube, shows kids interacting through partitions with captive animals at a variety of zoos and aquariums. Parents laugh in the background and offer encouragement as animals claw at glass, chase their children back and forth, or make faces at the laughing kids. The comments on this video are often praising: “Cute and funny!” and “So CUTE!” Everybody is having fun… Right?
Animals are funny and they are cute. And, watching wild animals—animals most of us only ever see in video—is absolutely captivating. But, as animal lovers, we need to be careful about the kind of animal videos we watch and share online.
No matter how cute or funny videos of captive wild animals may be, they send the wrong message about captive wildlife. Wild animals in zoos and aquariums—or those held in untrained and unqualified private hands—are being kept in unnatural environments, far from their native habitats. The animals in these videos aren’t enjoying life and having fun; they’re either performing tricks they’ve been forced to learn by unnatural means or, in a best case scenario, they’re “making the best” of their unnatural situation.
In short, these videos serve to normalize captivity. They are especially dangerous if wild animals are shown interacting with domestic animals or children, promoting the mistaken notion that captive wild animals have somehow been rendered less wild and less dangerous by captivity.
Luckily, there are numerous online resources available that allow us to responsibly observe wild animals on their own terms! Check out the list below of webcams from across the U.S. and around the world.
And, the next time you come across a video of a captive wild animal performing a trick, making people laugh, or looking cute in an unnatural setting, please share this blog post or any of the links below instead. Help spread the word that there are great videos of wild animals out there, but the videos of captive wildlife are not it—no matter how funny or cute they may seem!
Live Webcams of Wild Animals in their Natural Habitats
African wildlife:
North American wildlife:
- Alligator and Spoonbill Swamp Camera (Florida)
- Bear Cam at Katmai National Park (Alaska)
- Bear Cam (Lower River) at Katmai National Park (Alaska)
- Bison Watering Hole at Grasslands National Park (Canada)
- Webcams at Yellowstone National Park
- National Elk Refuge (Wyoming)
Marine animals:
- Pacific Walrus Cam (Alaska)
- Kelp Forest Cam (California)
- Cayman Reef Cam (Cayman Islands)
- Shark Lagoon Cam (California)
- Cacroft Point Underwater Orca Cam (Canada)
- Underwater Beluga Cam (Canada)
Birds:
- Great Grey Owl Nest (Montana)
- Peregrine Falcon – Chesapeake Conservancy (Maryland)
- Sauces Bald Eagles (California)
- Puffin Cam (Maine)
Legitimate wildlife sanctuaries:
- Big Cat Rescue Feeding Station Cam
- Big Cat Rescue Tiger Lake Cam
- Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
Keep wildlife in the wild,
