Instagram celebrities point out that they are promoting illegal animal trade
Many celebrities upload photos and videos of cute animals such as monkeys, tigers, lions, cheetahs, pumas, sloths, and meerkats that are small enough to hold in one hand on SNS such as Instagram and TikTok. The animals that are the subject of these photos and videos came from illegal animal trade in Dubai,
How Instagram Celebrities Promote Dubai's Underground Animal Trade --bellingcat
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2021/02/08/how-instagram-celebrities-promote-dubais-underground-animal-trade/
Popular rappers, movie actors, businessmen, TV presenters, models, YouTubers and more have posted photos taken with small rare animals on their Instagram. However, Postma points out that these animals were sold by an illegal animal trading group based in Dubai. Such illegal wildlife trade has become a multi-billion yen industry .
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and elsewhere, keeping tigers and lions as pets has long been a status symbol. But basically keeping tigers and lions as pets is problematic and 'is an act that harms the physical and social well-being of animals,' Postma said.
In the first place, the UAE enforced a law in 2017 that prohibits individuals from owning, trading, or transporting wild primates and large cats. Therefore, it is basically illegal to have a tiger or lion as a pet. Postma also said that the rampant illegal trade in these animals could lead to poaching by international criminal organizations to raise money.
Despite these regulations, illegal wildlife trade is still widespread, Postma said. He explains that posting photos of celebrities showing off their pets, especially on social media, is one of the reasons for the continued illegal wildlife trade.
Pictures of small lions and tigers are especially popular on social media. The reason why these animal photographs are so popular is that the selling price of individuals is high and the hurdles for breeding are so high that ordinary people cannot afford them. The most popular is the white tiger. Since there are very few wild individuals, they are often born by inbreeding and often have serious genetic defects.
In August 2019, Indian actress and model Esha Gupta, who has more than 5 million followers on Instagram, posted a photo with the White Tiger. This post was deleted at the time of article creation, but you can
In the same month that Gupta posted a photo with the white tiger, MoeMoneyOfficial, who has more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, also posted a photo of the white tiger.
In addition, on September 1, 2019, YouTuber Mo Vlogs, who boasts more than 10 million subscribers, also released a movie to play with the white tiger.
Postma points out that the white tigers shot in these three posts are all the same individual. The striped pattern of the tiger is unique to each individual, and it is evidence that the whiskers, nose spots, and striped pattern in the part shown by the color line in the image below are the same individual.
Not only are these posts filmed with the same white tiger, but they also have in common that they use the tag 'MBE.777'. The tag 'MBE.777' is also tagged in the posts of celebrities who took pictures and videos with animals such as tigers, lions, and cheetahs.
In addition, British rapper
Postma points out that the white tigers photographed by Fredo, Dyler, and Khalifa together are the same individual due to the striped characteristics.
The 'MBE.777' tag is used not only by celebrities but also by photographers, and it can be expected that they will not only sell animals but also rent them.
In addition, Sahid Khan, who has been sentenced to imprisonment for fraud in the United Kingdom and is on the run, is also taking a picture with the same white tiger that Fredo and his colleagues took. The photo on the left is a white tiger posted by Khalifa, and the photo on the right is a white tiger posted by Khan.
'MBE.777', which is tagged with multiple celebrities, is an Instagram account name. MBE.777 does not disclose his face or name on Instagram, so Postma points out that 'MBE.777 may be familiar with UAE animal laws.' In the post by MBE.777, you can see comments such as 'How much?' Asking for the selling price of animals.
MBE.777 selects posted photos with a great deal of privacy, but it is possible to get a glimpse of some personal information from the photos posted by people who sell illegal animals with him. For example, from the building and location information reflected in the Instagram post of a Russian woman who seems to be related to MBE.777, MBE.777 is 'a room on the 20th floor of a high-rise apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai. You can see that you are taking a picture with.
Indian celebrities
MBE.777 not only lends animals for photography, but also sells animals illegally, and another Instagram account, Exotic Pets Dubai, is helping MBE.777 and others sell animals illegally. Postma points out. The reason is that the serval photo posted by Exotic Pets Dubai matches the individual serval photo surrendered by MBE.777.
It has been confirmed that the Russian women who make up the animal sales network with MBE.777 were selling near-endangered cheetahs with an estimated population of 8,000 on Instagram, and in the comment section, ' It's already sold. '
In addition, it seems that there are multiple cases where another Instagram user has posted a photo with the same characteristics as the animal in the photo posted by MBE.777. Therefore, Postma speculates that these animals were 'sold by MBE.777.'
In addition, there is a case where a mysterious man is reflected in the photo tagged with MBE.777, 'Is this the person who operates MBE.777?' Postma said.
In the movie of Mr. MoVlogs, a person who seems to be MBE.777 is reflected together with the white tiger.
'Celebrities and influencers take two-shot photos with lion and tiger children, tag them with MBE.777 and post them, and post them to millions of followers, MBE.777. Aside from legal issues and issues such as the well-being of the animals themselves, these celebrity posts 'put endangered wildlife at risk of poaching.' There is. ' In addition, 'Celebrity followers can point out photos such as white tigers posted on Instagram and reduce the attractiveness of the posts to protect endangered wildlife populations. You may be able to do it. '
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in Creature, Posted by logu_ii