Monkey Business

Primatologists (people who study lemurs, monkeys and apes) are being advised not to use 'selfies' holding their study subjects in advertising. It is thought that this inappropriately encourages the pet trade (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/24/no-more-monkey-selfies-scientists-told-images-could-drive-pet-trade-aoe). The claim is that 'selfies' with a primate give the wrong impressions about the a) Conservation status of the species; b) Behavioural attributes of the animal and c) Ease of keeping it in the home. I agree but I'm not really sure that pictures of the primatologist holding a toy monkey are any better.