How Gamification Might Help

The Exotic Pet Trade

UK Animal Welfare &

International Conservation

By John Murphy (Camo) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The UK prides itself on being a nation of pet lovers. We currently share our homes with: • Dogs: 8.5 million (25% of households) • Cats: 8.5 million (19% of households) • Reptiles: 8 million

See more at: http://www.pfma.org.uk/pet-population/#sthash.SeqQZa9t.dpuf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/3500882/Reptiles-now-more-popular-pets-than-dogs.html

A Nation of Animal Lovers?

• Numbers of dogs and cats abandoned up 65 per cent from 2007

• The RSPCA is struggling to rehome pets - with 40,595 dumped in 2011

• Animal cruelty convictions rose by 23.5 per cent in the past year

• One stray dog for every 564 people in the UK during 2013

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2226089/RSPCA-Over-100-pets-abandoned-day-Britain-families-longer-afford-feed-them.html#ixzz36V7tgIyh

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/s/straydogsurvey/straydog2013.pdf

A Nation of Animal Lovers?

By Babujayan (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Reptiles and other exotic species promoted by the pet trade as the

perfect alternative to a dog or cat.

Pet trade promotes reptiles as “low-maintenance” pets.

A Nation of Animal Lovers?

A Nation of Animal Lovers?

• Estimated 84% of all reptiles imported into the

UK were wild-caught, not captive bred.

• Many exotic pets require special care.

• Many exotic pets can prove dangerous or

unpredictable.

• Some exotic species pose a disease risk.

A National Disgrace

The RSPCA deals with more than 5,000 calls about exotic

animals a year.

Malnutrition has been found in up to 15% of all pet reptiles.

A National Disgrace RSPCA study of UK pet stores found: • 68% did not ask whether the person had experience of caring

for an exotic species. • 60% did not provide care advice to people with no experience

of keeping an exotic species before. RSPCA study of pet stores in Scotland found half of exotic species offered for sale demonstrated behavioural problems – an indication of poor welfare and potential hazard to any new keeper.

http://www.captiveanimals.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Exotic-pet-factsheet.pdf

By Dick Culbert (Flickr: Sceloporus malachiticus) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

http://www.captiveanimals.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Exotic-pet-factsheet.pdf

By Ritiks (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Pets are Big Business Reptiles represented £200 Million of the UK pet

industry in 2012

£5.9 Billion – UK Pet trade overall value in 2010

Little national or international regulation Low priority crime for overstretched UK police forces

Low risk, high reward crime

http://www.fbh.org.uk/news/downloads/euark_brochure_2012.pdf

What’s the Solution?

Massive fines, imprisonment, capital punishment?

Unfortunately, the history of the illegal drugs trade suggests even the most

draconian laws and punishments often fail as a deterrent.

By University of Houston (http://digital.lib.uh.edu/u?/p15195coll14,67) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

EU Legislation

Around 50 invasive plant and animal species will be banned from the EU once legislation is

agreed and ratified. This might have a limited impact on both the exotic pet trade and

pet ownership.

http://www.fbh.org.uk/news/october13newsletter.html

Captive Breeding? Captive breeding is not a viable solution for exotics. Animals bred in captivity still suffer the same welfare problems as those taken from the wild. They are just as likely to be abandoned once the novelty wears off or owners can’t keep up with the expense and commitment. Captive-bred animals are not domestic animals, they remain essentially wild in nature and behaviour, which means they pose just as great a potential danger to unexperienced keepers.

By Hillebrand Steve, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Can Gamification Help?

The use of game theory, behavioural psychology and popular game elements might be positively

applied to educate consumers, children and those working in the pet trade while supporting animal

welfare and conservation.

Motivation, Collaboration, Education – Epic Wins

“The more we help in games the more we help in life.”

- Reality is Broken, Jane McGonigal

“Halo has always been a place where I feel good. I don’t mean that in a James Brown sense. I mean it’s a place where I feel

virtuous. It engenders a sense of honour and duty which actually makes you feel like a better person.”

- Margaret Robertson, Games Journalist

Idea 1. Powerful Narratives Bring multiple agencies together to tell powerful stories about the capture, illegal trafficking and sale of exotic species to the UK/EU pet trade.

• RSPCA • Federation of British Herpetologists • UK Pet Industry Federation • Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

(Defra) • Pets at Home (retail chain store) • Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust • International Reptile Conservation Foundation

(projects) • Others

By Courtney "Coco" Mault (Flickr: Parkway Movie Theater) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

With such charitable giving efforts as humanitarian aid and support to those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, grants to protect wildlife and wild places, along with VoluntEAR projects and events to bring comfort to kids in need, our cash, product and in-kind donations totalled more than $370 million this past year.

Star Wars: Force for Change is a brand new charitable initiative from Disney and Lucasfilm in collaboration with Bad Robot dedicated to finding creative solutions to some of the world's biggest problems. The first Star Wars: Force for Change campaign will raise funds and awareness for UNICEF's Innovation Labs and its innovative projects benefiting children in need.

EVOKE -- an online 'serious game' utilizing a variety of

social media tools and narrative approaches commonly

found in video games -- is designed to empower young

people all over the world to start solving urgent social

problems like hunger, poverty, disease, conflict,

climate change, sustainable energy, health care,

education, and human rights. It is meant to encourage

young people to collaborate with each other, across

the world, to develop real world ideas to address these

challenges. Read full story

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTE

DUCATION/0,,contentMDK:22931151~pagePK:148956~piPK

:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html

Use an existing gamified platform such as Chore Wars and create a special section for animal welfare and conservation challenges. This game will appeal to achievers who like to get things done and explorers who want to try

and learn new things.

The challenges can be domestic chores but the points and rewards gained can be exchanged

for real-world donations to animal welfare and conservation projects. Alternatively, the

challenges can be real-world such as volunteering at a local animal shelter.

Turning mundane chores into fun games and challenges

Idea 3. Working Together: Win-Win Use existing gamified systems like SCANVenger Hunt or SCVNGR mobile app. Key player types: explorer and achiever. Secondary player type: socializer. Pet Owners: Visit locations such as pet superstores, local pet shops, local animal shelters and wildlife parks. Do fun challenges such as attend a pet care seminar. Receive rewards and recognition for your efforts with social sharing and real-world discounts and free stuff from participating pet retailers. Pet Retailers: Internally, staff can win points, rewards, recognition for undertaking a variety of challenges from ensuring the store is kept clean and hygienic to undertaking training courses on animal welfare. Group, store and area level challenges and awards can be undertaken with virtual and real awards and certificates, similar to the UK’s Investors in People program. Externally, the store can use the platform to showcase it’s commitment to conservation and animal welfare, promote educational and other in-store activities designed to encourage responsible pet ownership. The platform can also be used for marketing and sales promotions. The platform might also be integrated with the company’s loyalty and incentive program.

Gamification Provides Lead Retrieval and Engagement for Exhibitors at Southwest Veterinary Symposium. Read the success story here http://scanvengerhunt.biz/trade-show-gamification-provides-lead-retrieval-engagement-exhibitors/

Idea 4: Knowledge is Power Build a platform whereby players and groups are rewarded for making informed choices about the exotic pets they keep and pet products they buy. The key player types are explorer, achiever and socializer. Players are set a series of missions such as investigating the origin of exotic pets sold at local stores and level of knowledge of staff. Other challenges test how capable a player is of keeping a particular animal based on their knowledge of its behaviour, habitat, diet, special requirements. Players can establish themselves as “experts” on a particularly animal or species receiving special badges and status. Other players can seek expert advice when attempting their own challenges or when considering buying an exotic pet. The platform will offer a high level of social sharing, and possibly be hosted on Facebook. Non-players can also access expert advice. The platform could offer a hierarchy of expertise whereby players level-up by taking recognised animal welfare and conservation qualifications. These “super experts” will receive special recognition and rewards such as discounts for life with a certain pet store chain or free entry to wildlife parks. We might also offer different categories of player and achievement based on how much social good a player does or the number of social quests they perform, such as giving talks at local schools or pet stores or doing voluntary work at animal shelters. The key intrinsic motivators here are to do social good while raising the player’s sense of social status based on expertise. At the same time it’s nice to have some variable extrinsic rewards such as free stuff i.e. merchandise.

Recyclebank rewards ecologically responsible

behaviours such as recycling rubbish with a points

and rewards system plus a growing library of

information to help players do their bit to save the

planet and their own communities.

http://vimeo.com/62415998

Healthy Planet’s Conservation Community is a great example of a gamified

system designed to support wildlife conservation projects. The organisation

teamed up with Google Maps to produce a system where you can pin your

donation to a specific project. Share your pin with friends and family on

social media. Receive regular personalised newsletter about your project. Be

awarded conservation badges for doing things like writing about a

conservation issue on social media or a blog. Each badge has a points value

that moves you up the conservation scoreboard. You can also gift other

people the “get on the map” experience.

Thanks for viewing

Prepared by Charlie Trumpess

contact me: charlie.trumpess@gmail.com or search for me on LinkedIn

By John Murphy (Camo) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons