In Brazil, wildlife exploitation is an increasingly serious issue that we suspected might be fueled by social media posts featuring domesticated wild animals. After two years of data analysis, we discovered something astonishing: Social media posts actually were feeding an algorithm that was spurring increased purchase of trafficked wildlife.

Where (social) media was creating a problem, we looked for a media-based solution. We asked some of Brazil’s biggest social media influencers to reach out and show their combined 106 million followers how to reset their social media algorithm to tackle the problem and make a real change for the better.

Brazil has one of the largest and most diverse biological ecosystems on the planet, home to 13% of the world’s largest animal and plant life. It also possesses one of the most active and dangerous illegal wildlife trade markets, with snakes, fish, primates, songbirds, frogs and parrots among the many species that are routinely exploited.*

Despite extensive efforts to advocate for animal rights, wild animal trafficking in Brazil has been growing exponentially, reaching an alarming 35 million individuals annually. And the problem has been compounded by a combination of factors, including a lack of quality data, data sharing, and enforcement coordination between state and federal authorities.* It’s an issue that is core to the mission of Ampara, the largest and most important animal protection and defense organization in Brazil, recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice as an OSCIP (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest). Its goal is to change society by taking action to support, educate and raise awareness about animal rights. And given the recent increase in trafficking, the challenge for our organization has never been clearer or more urgent.

*https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/brazils-widespread-wildlife-trafficking/

Context:

Wild animal trafficking in Brazil has seen a tremendous increase in recent years.

Ampara is the largest and most important animal protection and defense organization in Brazil, recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice as a OSCIP (Civil Society Organization of Public Interest). Its goal is to change society by taking action to support, educate, and raise awareness about animal rights.

Brief:

Come up with an original idea to help alleviate the problem of wild animal trafficking.

Challenge:

Wild animals are popular! They make great content. Many people spend countless hours on TikTok and Instagram liking and sharing videos and photos of wild animals. A large portion of which includes content of wildlife that has been humanized or raised as pets.

Objectives:

Raise awareness of the issue

Help Ampara play a part in the reduction of animal trafficking

Most advertising is about increasing purchase intent––but our goal was the exact opposite.

To decrease people’s willingness to buy trafficked wildlife, first we had to verify the connection between social media posts and the trafficking market itself (a two-year data collection and analysis undertaking).

Then we had to:

Call attention to the problem

Reset the social media algorithm that was fueling the increase

Introducing The Wild Algorithm (Reset)

We launched a data-driven social-first campaign, highlighting the cause-and-effect, and encouraging people to reset their social algorithms with a 4-step process, to be part of the solution.

An exhibition in São Paulo, showing trafficked animal images on phones trapped in trafficking cages, drove interest in the issue and offered sharable content.

Then, on National Animals Day, we launched the Wild Algorithm Reset, enlisting some of Brazil’s biggest influencers to spread the simple process to effectively reset the problematic algorithm.

We wanted to find out whether wild animals on social media were having any kind of measurable effect on the illegal trafficking market, and we needed the data to prove it.

We started by scouring Instagram and TikTok for content that featured domesticated wild animals, and tracked engagement they generated over two years.

Then we used Google to access the level of demand for wild animals, decoding search trends and calculating precise day-by-day measures.

The connection between social media and trafficking was clear and indisputable. Amongst other key data points, 37% of searches for monkey purchases and 18% of searches for snake purchases were directly generated by Instagram content.

Once we firmly established the connection, we needed to

1.) call attention to the problem

2.) reset the algorithm fueling this increase in trafficking

Most advertising is about increasing purchase intent––our goal was the exact opposite.

To make a splash and gain immediate attention, we started with an exhibition in one of São Paulo’s busiest areas, where we installed real cages used by traffickers with mobile phones trapped inside that showed wild animals in social media posts. Then, on National Animals Day, we launched the Wild Algorithm Reset with the help of some of Brazil’s biggest influencers across numerous verticals, including Sabrina Sato, Thalia Ayala, João Vincente De Castro, and others. They reached out to their followers to spread the word about a simple process that anyone could use to effectively reset the problematic algorithm.

Millions of people took part in the Wild Algorithm Reset, and the results were real and powerful:

12.1 million people re-educated their algorithms

111 million total impressions

A twofold increase in conversations and mentions related to animal trafficking in Brazil

A significant global reduction in searches for purchasing intent: 15% less for monkeys, 6% less for parrots, and 5% less for snakes

A 12% decrease in engagement with social media videos featuring wild animals on Instagram

Heightened public and political awareness led to a series of law enforcement actions