For the last week, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s new music video has been the talk of the internet, mostly for its vulgar language, hyper-sexualized visuals, and a cameo from Kylie Jenner. But that’s not what we’re here to talk about.
In many scenes of the “WAP” video, the artists are dancing with wild animals, including snakes, leopards, and white tigers. According to this article from the Washington Post, the big cats were edited into the video, and were not on set with the artists. However, simply featuring these animals unfortunately perpetuates the idea that wild animals can be kept as pets and used for entertainment. We encourage Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as all other artists, to avoid working with wildlife, and to avoid portraying wild animals as property or entertainers in their work.
We are also calling on people in the creative industries (movies, music, art, design, theatre, advertising, television, etc.) to never use, or never again use captive wild animals in their work through our #Promise4Wildlife project. Animal-lovers like Cyndi Lauper, Eve, Kate Nash, Alesha Dixon, Leona Lewis and others have made the promise, and we hope their example will move others to act as well.
A white tiger at a tourist venue in Thailand
Wild animals are not pets
For centuries, keeping wild animals has pets has been seen as a symbol of status, power and wealth. The reality is that it is nearly impossible to meet the needs of a wild animal in captivity, and the animals suffer. Put simply, it’s cruel. Furthermore, to support the exotic pet trade, animals are being taken from the wild in great numbers. Often, they’re shipped huge distances, and taken to countries vastly different from their original homes. Many exotic pets suffocate and die in transit before they even reach their destination. This is endangering the populations in their natural habitats, which together with other threats like habitat loss can threaten their survival.
Did you know that there are an estimated 1.4 million wild animals being kept as pets in Canada alone? While data is limited in Canada, it is believed that Canada is home to approximately 186,000 wild cats, ranging from servals to lions and tigers. According to a 2019 survey, there are an estimated 2,383 tigers kept as pets in Canada. In reality, this number is likely higher since tigers and other wild cats living in zoos and roadside zoos/menageries are not included. We also know that there are more tigers kept in captivity in the United States than there are in the wild.
A young boy posing with a tiger at Jungle Cat World here in Canada
Canada is also considered one of the main importers globally of Ball pythons, a wild snake commonly kept as a pet. An estimated 28,000 Ball pythons are currently kept as pets across the country. Our research found that wild caught Ball pythons are still being imported in Europe and North America, likely to boost the captive breeding industry due to large demand. Cruel wild capture methods cause stress and can result in disease, infection and premature death.
Wild animals are not entertainers
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion aren’t the only ones who want a photo or video with wild animals. Thousands of tourists around the world visit animal entertainment venues hoping to get close to their favourite wild animals. We love these animals, too, but a photo is not worth the cruelty and suffering they experience all their lives.
Tiger and lion cubs are taken from their mothers (sometimes at just a month old) and are constantly chained or left in small, barren cages for tourists to handle and hug for selfies. Some big cat facilities drug the animals when they get older so tourists can snap the perfect selfie. When captive-bred lions grow too old for tourists to hug and hold but are still young, the animals are sometimes viciously retrained for “walk with lions” experiences. When they become unmanageable, they are abandoned or discarded at roadside zoos, or sometimes killed at trophy hunting venues.
A person taking a selfie with a captive tiger cub
How you can help
Whether the big cats featured in the “WAP” music video were live on set, photoshopped in, or created using computer animation, their presence in the video upholds dangerous views of these majestic animals. They are wildlife and should be protected in their natural habitats.
Pledge today to never own a wild animal as an exotic pet. We use your signatures to move governments to strengthen regulations around exotic pets, as well as to move companies to stop selling wild animals at pet shops.
Whether the big cats featured in the “WAP music video were live on set, photoshopped in, or created using computer animation, their presence in the video upholds dangerous views of these majestic animals. They are wildlife and should be protected in their natural habitats.