Wild Futures’ Outrage at Katy Perry’s Latest Video
Primate welfare charity Wild Futures is outraged after discovering that pop star Katy Perry’s new music video “Roar” features a small menagerie of trained wild animals, including a Capuchin monkey and a baboon.
The white-faced Capuchin monkey actor features throughout the 4:21 film, which has more than 86 million views on You Tube. The primate can be seen “admiring” Perry’s shoe, pouting as Perry applies lip gloss, and posing on the singer’s shoulder for photos. A trained tiger and number of other animals also make appearances. Campaigns manager Brooke Aldrich commented: “It’s clear that they had quite a budget for this video; and they already made great use of special effects. With a little creativity they could easily have remained true to the video’s theme without resorting to the harmful exploitation of wild animals.”
Wild Futures is asking its supporters to politely comment on the video, explaining why this film is extremely bad taste and why it could have a detrimental effect on animal welfare.
Wild Futures operates the Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall, and has first-hand experience of the suffering caused by the human exploitation of monkeys as performers and as pets. The charity is a founder member of AnimalPledge.org, which opposes the use of wild animals as “actors” due to the negative impact such use inherently has on the animals’ well-being.
Each time a monkey appears as an “actor” or as a celebrity pet in the mass media, Wild Futures notices a surge in enquiries about how to obtain a pet monkey or whether visitors can hold or touch a monkey.
Research has demonstrated that the inappropriate portrayal of chimpanzees in the media distorts public perception of their conservation status and suitability as pets, and in this way may even contribute to their demise in the wild [1] [2]. Wild Futures believes that the results of such research can be applied to other primates, including Capuchin monkeys, who are probably the most frequently used primate “actors” of all.
Brooke Aldrich stated: “We cannot let instances such as these pass by without expressing our outrage and huge disappointment. Katy Perry has made such a mistake in using these animals. It’s not fair on them as individuals, and this video could significantly increase demand for pet monkeys, causing many others to suffer needlessly. There are already about 5,000 privately kept primates in the UK, and that figure appears to be rising. Katy Perry is an extremely influential female and she needs to learn that this is this is just unacceptable for animals. Celebrities should think carefully about their actions and use their status in a much more positive way. We sincerely hope that she listens to our outrage and supporters’ comments and makes public amends as soon as possible.”
For more information on Wild Futures’ campaign against the primate pet trade, please contact [email protected]g . For more information on AnimalPledge.org, www.animalpledge.org.
[1] Ross, SR; Lukas, KE; Lonsdorf, EV; Stoinski, TS; Hare, B; Shumaker, R; Goodall, J. 2008. Inappropriate Use and Portrayal of Chimpanzees. Science v 319; p1487. www.sciencemag.org
[2] Schroepfer, KK; Rosati, AG; Chartrand, T; Hare, B. 2011. Use of “Entertainment” Chimpanzees in Commercials Distorts Public Perception Regarding Their Conservation Status. PLoS One. www.plosone.org
2013/09/25