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Non-formal, yet educative, activities such as science festivals can positively influence the public regarding their attitude towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and students' willingness to pursue STEM-related careers. We evaluate the changes made to adapt the Oxford Brookes Science Bazaar, a science festival that has been delivered face-to-face since 2008, to a virtual format in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The online festival included 28 pre-recorded and 12 live activities of different types (hands-on, demonstration, games, lectures, podcasts, virtual tours). Hands-on activities and virtual tours had the highest number of unique viewers, while lectures and podcasts were the least watched. The videos were watched also after the advertised date of the festival and reached a broader audience than the physical events. The number of participants, the holding time, and the proportion of people who filled the feedback forms, however, were lower in the online than the physical events. STEM organisations should consider hybrid events, with both virtual and in-person contents, to reach a broader audience and to create more inclusive events. We provide recommendations on how to maximise the benefit of virtual formats, including expanding blended virtual activities to reach a wider variety of age groups.

Indonesia has committed to implement the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030 including the ending trafficking of protected species and addressing the illegal wildlife demand and supply. As such, there is a need for long‐term data on wild animal trade and its contribution to the wider economy. We initiated a long‐term monitoring programme of live civet trade in wildlife markets (120 surveys, 2010–2023). Civets are traded to be kept as exotic pets and to produce civet coffee and are a proxy for other high‐profile wildlife. We recorded 2289 civets of six species, including ones with strict regulations in place. Despite the trade being illegal, and contra to Indonesia's commitments as part of the SDG to curb this trade, it remained remarkably stable over time (numbers, species, prices). As such, Indonesia is not meeting its SDG targets that are related to curbing illegal wildlife trade and illicit financial flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education plays an important role in developing positive conservation behavior in future generations. We promote the use of subtle anthropomorphism within a children's storybook as an effective method of increasing ecological knowledge of a target primate species. We delivered an education programme to 170 children in Indonesia from wherein we tested ecological knowledge across gender toward the species before and after exposure to a mildly anthropomorphized storybook. Following the programme, participants of both genders significantly increased their use of accurate ecology terms (Z = -3.01, p = 0.003). Anthropomorphic terms are markedly altered from human adjectives in females and verbs in males toward accurate ecological terms. If used correctly and in correspondence with accurate ecological representations of a species, subtle anthropomorphism can aid in increasing empathy and knowledge in education programmes.

A growing global human population, habitat conversion, and the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources have created unsustainable demands on nature, resulting in widespread biodiversity loss. Primates, which represent the third most specious Order of mammals, are facing an extinction crisis. Currently, 69% of primate species are listed by the IUCN as threatened (Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered) and 94% have declining populations. Here, we examine two primary threats to primate population persistence, namely the commercialized hunting and capturing of wild primates and their body parts for food, traditional medicine, pets, and use in biomedical research. Both the legal wildlife trade and illegal wildlife trafficking represent multibillion-dollar industries that contribute to primate population decline, a reduction in genetic diversity, and local extirpation. Trade and trafficking also can lead to the emergence of infectious diseases, increasing biosecurity risks to humans. Between 2015 and 2021, CITES reported 337,511 live primates representing at least 99 species were legally traded, with 6.5% sourced directly from the wild. The recent indictment of Cambodian officials for allegedly laundering wild-caught long-tailed macaques into the U.S. by labelling them as captive-bred, highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability. Comprehensive data on the illegal trafficking of primates are extremely difficult to obtain. However, between 2009 and 2017, primates accounted for 20% of all seizures of illegally traded mammals in the air transport sector. International wildlife trafficking is dominated by criminal networks, corruption, and driven by the demands of wealthy consumers. In addition, the internet has expanded international opportunities to connect buyers and sellers of wild-caught primates and their body parts. Despite explicit bans on selling endangered primates, social media sites continue to do so. Moreover, data on the global food security index (GFSI) indicate that as the international demand for wild live primates, their meat, and other body parts has continued to increase, the majority of people in primate range nations have remained food insecure. Given that almost 70% of primate species are negatively impacted by hunting and trapping, we offer a set of recommendations to reduce the trade and trafficking of wild primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Having venom is a rare trait among mammals and even rarer among primates. Slow and pygmy lorises are the only venomous primates, and they possess a unique "two-step" venom system. When threatened, they release a secretion from a gland on their forearm and lick it, activating the venom by mixing it with their saliva. There are several hypotheses for why slow and pygmy lorises evolved this unique trait. Venom can be used to capture prey, to defend against predators or parasites, or for competition with other slow or pygmy lorises. We tested the hypothesis that venom is used to capture prey by experimentally offering various arthropod prey items to 22 wild-caught greater slow lorises living in a rescue center. We observed how their behavior was affected by prey characteristics including size, potential for escape, and toxicity. The few venom-related behaviors we observed only occurred in a defensive context, suggesting that the greater slow lorises do not use their venom as a means of subduing prey. These negative results are consistent with the growing body of evidence that pygmy and slow lorises primarily use venom in competition with members of their own species. Few mammals are venomous, including one group of primates—slow (Nycticebus spp.) and pygmy (Xanthonycticebus spp.) lorises. Hypotheses for the evolutionary function of venom in these primates include defense from predators or ectoparasites, communication or competition with conspecifics, and the capture of prey. We tested the prey capture hypothesis in 75 trials with 22 wild-caught greater slow lorises (N. coucang) housed in a rescue center in Java, Indonesia. We experimentally offered the slow lorises arthropod prey items varying in size, escape potential, and toxicity and recorded venom-related and predatory behaviors using live and video observations. The slow lorises visually targeted arthropod prey, approached it quickly and efficiently, and captured it with a manual grasping motion. They rarely performed venom-related behaviors and seemed to do so in a defensive context. The slow lorises exhibited little variation in pre-capture behavior as a function of prey size or escape potential. In response to noxious prey, the slow lorises performed tongue-flicking and other investigative behaviors that indicate they are using chemosensory input to assess prey characteristics. These data suggest it is unlikely that slow lorises use chemical weapons to subdue arthropod prey and may support, instead, a defensive function for slow loris venom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: There are clear links between wildlife trade and emerging infectious diseases including zoonotic diseases. In some cases, this leads to global outbreaks or even pandemics as recently seen with SARS and COVID-19 for instance. One of the first properly documented global pandemics caused by the trade of wildlife at a global level was the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic of 1929/1930. This pandemic was caused by psittacosis, a respiratory disease that can be transmitted to humans from infected birds (once transmitted to humans the disease is known as avian chlamydiosis). We assessed the risk of psittacosis becoming a zoonotic disease in Indonesia's bird markets where a wide range of wild-caught species, including parrots, are traded. In 14 markets on the islands of Java and Bali, we recorded almost 4500 parrots of 21 genera from all parts of the world and these were traded alongside each other. Genera offered for sale together did not cluster into geographic groups, were sold during all months of the year, and for 12/21 genera the presence of psittacosis had been reported in the past. We conclude that the omnipresence of wild-caught parrots from various geographic regions in large numbers within the same bird markets (visited by 100 s of people daily) increases the likelihood that psittacosis is indeed present. This poses a real risk for the zoonotic spread of avian chlamydiosis to humans. Wildlife trade, both legal and illegal, is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the rise of emerging viral infectious diseases, and this is especially apparent in Asia, where large numbers of wildlife are openly offered for sale in bird markets. We here focus on the risk of Psittacosis becoming a zoonotic disease in the wildlife markets of Java and Bali, Indonesia. Psittacosis is particularly prevalent in parrots (hence the name), and the trade in parrots was instrumental in the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic in 1929/1930. Between 2014 and 2023, we conducted 176 surveys of 14 bird markets, during which we recorded 4446 largely wild-caught parrots for sale. On average, each market had nine genera on offer, and the diversity of genera increased with the increasing presence of parrots (up to 16 genera). For most of the bird markets during each survey, parrots from different genera and originating from different parts of the world, were offered for sale alongside each other. Genera offered for sale together did not cluster into natural (geographic) groups. We found no temporal difference in the sale of parrots. We conclude that the omnipresence of wild-caught parrots from various geographic regions in large numbers within the same bird markets increases the risk that psittacosis is present and that this poses a real risk for the zoonotic spread of avian chlamydiosis to humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]