The normalization of selfies with dangerous animals is terrifying. Such posts may seem harmless at first glance but there is more to them.

A Thread.

The trouble with wildlife selfies is most often they appear without any context – so even if the person posting it is a trained professional or the image is meant to be promoting conservation or an amazing animal program, the message is lost.

All people see is someone hugging a “cute animal” and they want to do that too.

Many people envy others who post selfies of themselves hugging or being near wild animals which encourages more people to find ways to take their own similar photos. This continues the ongoing suffering of wildlife in the tourism industry.

Those selfies you see and like and retweet seemingly capture a moment of joy, but for many of these photos, the animals’ stress is left out of the frame.

Facilities who offer the chance for the public or volunteers to take direct contact photos with dangerous animals, especially big cats, are rarely reputable facilities. Many of these animals are inhumanely declawed, kept on chains, or housed in inadequate conditions.

A “good” selfie with a wild animal is typically one where there is no contact between the animal and the human, the animal is not being restrained for the photo, or not existing purely under human care to be used exclusively for photo props.

When you are someone who works or volunteers with these animals, you can often be in a tricky situation. You want to share your photos to inspire others but you also don’t want to send the wrong message.

No one is perfect - even I have made my mistakes with how I have communicated photos like this in the past. It is still something I have to actively remind myself to think about with every post I make. Anyone in animal care should always have this on the forefront of their mind.

Extreme care needs to be taken when posting direct contact photos from your work to ensure you minimize the impact you may have on others wanting to do the same. If you’re posting these photos, be sure to provide context and information. Not just some "uwu" catchphrase.

There is no safe or ethical way to take direct contact selfies with big cats or similarly dangerous animals. Trust me – I get why people think it would be awesome or why the temptation is there. Don’t do it.

TLDR; Please for the love of all things holy stop glorifying direct contact with big cats. It’s dangerous, it promotes the wrong message, and it promotes nothing but someone’s ego.