Megias Diane A, Anderson Sean C, Smith Robert J, Veríssimo Diogo
Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 Oct 4;12(10):e0182368. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0182368. eCollection 2017.
In recent decades, a substantial number of popular press articles have described an increase in demand for certain species in the pet trade due to films such as "Finding Nemo", "Ninja turtles", and "Harry Potter". Nevertheless, such assertions are largely supported only by anecdotal evidence. Given the role of the wildlife trade in the spread of pathogens and zoonosis, the introduction of invasive species, the overexploitation of biodiversity, and the neglect of animal welfare, it is crucial to understand what factors drive demand for a species. Here, we investigate the effect the movie industry may have on wildlife trade by examining the relationship between the "Harry Potter" cultural phenomenon and the trade in owls within the United Kingdom (UK). We gathered data from the UK box office, book sales, and newspaper mentions, and examined their relationship with data from three independent sources reflecting the legal ownership of owls in the UK, which is likely to involve several thousands of animals. Additionally, we conducted a questionnaire survey with UK animal sanctuaries to study the presumed mass abandonment of pet owls when the film series ended. Counter to common assertions, we find no evidence that the "Harry Potter" phenomenon increased the legal trade in owls within the UK, even when possible time-lag effects were taken into account. Only one indicator, the number of movie tickets sold, showed a weak but contradictory relationship with demand for owls, with a recorded drop of 13% (95% CI: 3-27%) per 1 SD in tickets sold in the original analysis but an increase of 4% (95% CI: 0-8%) with a one-year lag. In addition, our results suggest that the end of the Harry Potter series did not have a noticeable impact on the number of owls abandoned in UK wildlife sanctuaries, as only two of the 46 animal sanctuaries we contacted independently stated they had seen an increase in owls received and believed this was due to the Harry Potter series. We highlight the importance of further research on the drivers of demand for wildlife to better manage this global trade, and discuss the potential to use films to positively influence behaviour.
近几十年来，大量大众媒体文章描述了由于《海底总动员》《忍者神龟》和《哈利·波特》等电影，宠物贸易中对某些物种的需求有所增加。然而，这些说法很大程度上仅得到传闻证据的支持。鉴于野生动物贸易在病原体和人畜共患病传播、入侵物种引入、生物多样性过度开发以及动物福利忽视方面所起的作用，了解哪些因素推动对某一物种的需求至关重要。在此，我们通过研究《哈利·波特》文化现象与英国境内猫头鹰贸易之间的关系，来调查电影行业可能对野生动物贸易产生的影响。我们收集了英国票房、图书销售和报纸提及的数据，并研究它们与反映英国猫头鹰合法拥有情况的三个独立来源的数据之间的关系，这可能涉及数千只动物。此外，我们对英国动物庇护所进行了问卷调查，以研究电影系列结束时宠物猫头鹰可能出现的大规模遗弃情况。与普遍说法相反，我们没有发现证据表明《哈利·波特》现象增加了英国境内猫头鹰的合法贸易，即使考虑了可能的时间滞后效应。只有一个指标，即售出的电影票数，与对猫头鹰的需求呈现出微弱但相互矛盾的关系，在最初的分析中，每标准差的电影票数下降13%（95%置信区间：3 - 27%），但滞后一年则增加4%（95%置信区间：0 - 8%）。此外，我们的结果表明，《哈利·波特》系列的结束对英国野生动物庇护所接收的被遗弃猫头鹰数量没有明显影响，因为在我们独立联系的46个动物庇护所中，只有两个表示他们接收的猫头鹰有所增加，并认为这是由于《哈利·波特》系列所致。我们强调进一步研究野生动物需求驱动因素以更好地管理这一全球贸易的重要性，并讨论利用电影对行为产生积极影响的潜力。
