Social media is helping save wild animals like caracals

In the magical network of connections that is social media, there’s an unexpected hero emerging: wildlife conservation.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are offering a new way to boost conservation efforts by connecting people worldwide to the realities of animal life.

Social media: A lifeline for caracals

As surprising as it sounds, it seems that our online addiction to cat videos, photos, and memes isn’t just for mindless entertainment; it can also feed into environmental awareness.

A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Communication showed how social media has the immense potential of rallying support for wildlife.

And who’s the internet’s favorite feline this time around? It’s the caracal – a wild cat native to Africa with whimsical tufted ears.

What’s so special about the caracal?

The caracal is known as a smaller yet “charismatic” mammal. This wild feline has managed to attract the gaze of the online world, especially on social media channels, thanks to its curious resemblance to our domestic kitty companions.

The study authors noted that caracals can be used as a “flagship species” to communicate the aims of scientific research in rapidly urbanizing landscapes.

“Using an aesthetic species such as the caracal is an effective way to capture public attention to communicate the importance of conserving urban wildlife,” noted Dr. Gabriella Leighton and Dr. Laurel Serieys from the University of Cape Town.

However, it’s not just about the caracal’s looks. It’s also a question of deeper human engagement and involvement.

Social media and caracals

Though their research, the experts are emphasizing the role that smaller carnivores play in igniting the public’s interest in science and conservation.

A key takeaway from the study is the power of public participation in conservation efforts, where charismatic species can lend a hand in raising awareness about biodiversity in urban areas.

“The research demonstrates how a public interest in urban ecology and the global phenomenon of ‘cats on the internet’ can be harnessed to leverage conservation action,” said the researchers.

Power of online influence

Undeniably, the success of conservation efforts relies heavily on public engagement, particularly in biodiversity hotspots that are increasingly becoming urbanized and are understudied.

A prime example of this is the Urban Caracal Project (UCP), initiated in December 2014 in Cape Town, a location within a biodiversity hotspot and home to the caracal.

The project aims to explore caracal ecology and use social media as a tool to shape perceptions towards caracal conservation.

Social media interactions

The experts used Google Trends to examine the global popularity of caracals from 2004 to the present day. A comparison was also drawn against a similar African wildcat – the serval.

The data showed a significant surge in searches for the term “caracal,” doubling since the launch of UCP.

This substantial growth of 91%, compared to a 76% increase in searches for “servals,” highlights the project’s success in raising global awareness about caracals.

Additionally, the project has amassed more than 16,800 Facebook followers and over 7,300 followers on Instagram. These growing numbers have granted the project a “micro-influencer” status, attracting people not just from South Africa but also the UK, India, and the US.

Platform for public engagement

The experts found that social media also presented a valuable platform for direct public engagement, such as reported sightings of caracals, their rescues, or distressing reports of their deaths.

This interaction on social media has allowed the authors to conduct post-mortems, thereby assessing threats to the caracal population and analyzing roadkill patterns.

Moreover, exchanging information on the platform provides conservationists with valuable insights into how caracals respond to humans. Most encounters happen on roads or paths where caracals are described as “calm” or “chilled” before swiftly moving away.

Social media for caracal welfare

The common adjectives used in Facebook comments were “beautiful” for positive posts and “sad” for negative ones, usually related to a death or threat to the population.

This observation points towards the fact that social media engagement has indeed led to people caring about caracal welfare, a breakthrough in the world of wildlife conservation that we have in part to thank our “cats on the internet” obsession for.

Ultimately, these findings offer compelling reasons to embrace social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram as powerful tools in wildlife conservation.

After all, there’s no stopping the internet’s love affair with cats, so why not use it for a greater cause?

The study is published in the journal Environmental Communication.

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