â...while these photos would be very amusing if the photographer had stumbled across such incidents, the simple fact of the matter is that these animals do not engage in these behaviours naturally; These photos have almost certainly been staged, and have almost certainly resulted in the animal being distressed, injured, or worse.â. The cruel cost of cuteÂ
Something did not feel right about the photos. So I went clicking.Â
The tweet that was used for todayâs daily create was my first port of call. The thread is so long that I could not get to the end of it. Some of it rude, some of it funny, but mostly quite disturbing. The photos have no attribution in the tweet and it is captioned with a funny remark. I found the likely origin of the tweet in the Daily Mail - a UK paper not of the most high brow kind.Â
I offer here the same note the article quoted at the start of this post offers:
âNote: While this article will consider the harm caused by unscrupulous photographers, we will not share their photos as a matter of principle. While links to the offending material will be provided for context, every effort has been made to ensure that the photographs used in this article are from reputable sources.â
I did read the article and it seems the name of the photographer is Hendy Mp. He has had quite a lot of coverage with these photos. Yet, not all is as it seems:Â
âA Frog Riding a Beetle: Is This a Real Wildlife Photo or a Bunch of BS?â
And here is a quote from one of the experts the article consulted:
âI canât stand these images. To someone very familiar with frogs, itâs really sad to see the poor frog in this situation. I donât believe that these photos are of a naturally occurring situation. To me, they appear to be highly staged, and there is evidence that the frog is distressed. Frogs are so amazing without being used as props, itâs upsetting that they felt it necessary.â
And there were other articles explaining that âfake nature photographyâ with fancy discovery stories by famous photographers is a âthingâ and that it is thought that some even use string and kill the animals to create the cute photos. It seems some have even won prizes for these feats of unethical photography.Â
TILÂ Â that humans will do anything to get internet famous. Nah. I knew that all along.Â
I am glad I decided to click on the tweet and spend a little time looking at what was behind the photos; even if there is only a tiny chance that some of what I read is happening to rare frogs and other internet desirable animals, I will not disseminate the photos as a matter of principle.Â
Instead I will have an âethically sourced picture of a cute red-eyed tree frog by Brian Gratwickeâ be my daily create today. I did Mosh it!