
YouTuber MrBeast Exploits Wild Animals for Likes
FOUR PAWS criticises his recent bizarre competition of animals against humans
Disclaimer: The image used on this page is symbolic and unrelated to the video content mentioned.
Vienna, 9 July 2025 – In response to a YouTube video published by content creator MrBeast on July 5th, global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS has released a statement criticising the use of wild animals for entertainment purposes and forcing them to perform unnatural tricks.
“When do you see a wild elephant painting with a brush? When do you see a wild cheetah racing against a racing car? Never. These are not natural behaviours for animals. But unfortunately, a recent video produced by the YouTube content creator MrBeast shows them and other wild animals performing bizarre ‘challenges’ against humans. All for the sake of human entertainment. For viewers, the ‘challenges’ might look harmless, but they do not see the mental and physical stress and harm the animals have endured. This hidden suffering of wild animals in the entertainment industry needs to be addressed.
We see an alarming trend across the globe in which wild animals are commodified, farmed at commercial breeding facilities, offered for tourist interactions, or kept as pets. Animals are turned into ‘cash props’ for entertainment purposes, the exotic pet trade, status symbols and social media validation. But those videos and photos do not show the dark side — how animals are mentally and physically broken to comply and perform tricks.
When kept as pets, they are often denied proper nutrition, veterinary care, and live in unsuitable conditions. When used for tourist interactions, they are forced into submission through fear or torture training. Their wellbeing is never considered.
Pitting humans against wild animals in a competitive setting is fundamentally flawed. Wild animals are not designed to ‘compete’ by human rules. It's a game they will continue to lose. Living in captivity leaves many stressed, disoriented, and stripped of their natural behaviours, meaning they cannot respond as they would in the wild. This imbalance reduces the ‘competition’ to a spectacle that serves the human ego only.
The origin of many wild animals shown in the video is unclear. However, a legitimate sanctuary always puts the welfare of animals first and does not allow any type of interaction between animals and visitors. This includes no selfies, petting, feeding, animal performances, breeding or trade. FOUR PAWS has created a guide on how to protect animals when travelling and how to spot animal attraction red flags. Its Big Cat Reporting Tool can be used to report online exploitation of big cats.

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FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organisation advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. The sustainable campaigns and projects of FOUR PAWS focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals and wild animals – such as bears, big cats and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions as well as in disaster and conflict zones. With offices in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Switzerland, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, the UK, the USA and Vietnam as well as sanctuaries for rescued animals in eleven countries, FOUR PAWS provides rapid help and long-term solutions. www.four-paws.org