In this presentation we look at how gamification, the use of behavioural psychology, game design and mechanics, might positively affect the UK's growing exotic pet trade. Today 9 million reptiles are kept as household pets in Britain. A large proportion of reptiles imported and sold in the UK are taken from the wild. Animals needlessly suffer and die in transit. Those animals who survive the journey to the pet store often find themselves sold to people completely unequipped to care for them. Many pet stores make no attempt to educate their staff about animal welfare issues, and do little or nothing to ensure the animals they sell go to good homes. Many exotic species need extra-special care, and some can prove dangerous. This presentation contains a number of ideas as to how games can be used to educate consumers and those working in the pet trade about exotics, animal welfare and conservation. The games would also provide a platform for animal welfare and conservation groups to recruit volunteers and raise donations.

1. 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

2. 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?

3. • 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?

4. 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?

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

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

17. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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

22. 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.

23. Turning mundane chores into fun games and challenges

24. 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.

25. 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/

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 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