The Impact of Chimps in Entertainment

By Kat West

Our recent interviews with Erika Fleury of NAPSA and Dr. Stephen Ross from Project ChimpCARE taught us that inappropriate portrayals of chimps in entertainment have a big impact on how the public views chimpanzees. Read on to find out about how chimps in entertainment impact all chimps.

NAPSA advocacy

Erika Fleury said NAPSA advocates to get chimps out of the media. In addition to pointing out the detriments to a chimpanzee’s life when it is used in entertainment Erika tells us about studies documenting the impact that inappropriate portrayal of chimps has. People are more likely to view them as potential pets. Also people’s perception of whether chimps are endangered can be skewed (of course, we know they are endangered).

Erika states, when people are asked to think about life as a chimpanzee in entertainment, they realize it would not be a happy life. People understand that chimps should be living in the wild with other chimpanzees not with humans. But images of chimps in the media can alter how people view chimps.

The Impact of Images

Dr. Stephen Ross from Project ChimpCARE also advocates to get chimpanzees out of entertainment. He describes studies he participated in where people were shown images of chimps in anthropomorphized situations, acting, or looking like humans. People who saw images of chimpanzees like this were more likely to say that a chimpanzee might make a good pet. This is because they are seeing the animal in an unnatural way that promotes a false image of chimpanzee behavior and life. People are also more likely to think chimps are not endangered when they see them in the media. They think an endangered species wouldn’t be used as trained animals in entertainment.

Chimps portrayed in unnatural settings in the media hurts the image of chimps and creates confusion about the real nature of these amazing wild animals. Inappropriate portrayal of chimps both helps to fuel the pet trade and harms conservation efforts. It also impoverishes the life of the chimpanzees working in entertainment. These chimps live with humans, are taken from their mothers as infants and do not get the chance to socialize with other chimps in a natural setting.

You Can Help

Want to help chimps used in entertainment? Interested in making sure people know the truth about chimpanzees? Erika Fleury tells us the best thing you can do is think about the images you share on social media. Even if a pet chimp looks cute, or you see a funny clip of one in clothes remember what happens to these chimps and what their lives are really like. NAPSA created the #cruelnocute hash tag to remind people that these images of chimps may initially seem cute but that they are the result of a chimpanzee living a less than full and natural life.

Remember to think carefully about the images you share. Avoid supporting ad campaigns, movies and television shows that depict real chimps in unnatural and anthropomorphized ways.

Follow #cruelnotcute and consider how the images you share affect chimps.