Faunalytics’ Best Of 2021

Author: karol orzechowski | Published: January 12, 2022

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes

Our final roundup for 2021 looks at the resources published last year that were the most popular among our readers — with some surprises!

2021 was one of the most successful years in Faunalytics’ history. We published four new studies, made progress on seven others, released a range of video resources and infographics, and had record traffic to our website. What’s more, our Research Library maintained a steady publishing pace, with 200 study summaries and 50 blogs going live in 2021. This is a publishing pace we’ve developed over the course of years, and we feel it’s the right mix of quantity and quality — there is something for every animal advocate in our library, at a depth that helps advocates truly augment their work.

Below, we run down our top ten posts from 2021. As with previous years, the list shows just how varied our audience’s interests are, and just how much a simple study summary can gain a strong readership.

Ocean Life Fundamentals

The latest entry in our Faunalytics Fundamentals series looks at a broad range of issues affecting ocean life, from pollution to fishing to bycatch to the keeping of fishes as companion animals. A must-read if you want to help our finned friends.

Going Veg: Many Paths To One Goal

This original Faunalytics study, the first of our 3-part Going Veg series, looked at just how and why people make the transition to veganism or vegetarianism, and what advocates can do to support those making the change.

15 Years Of Wildlife Trade Data

This original Faunalytics analysis looked at legal wildlife trade data from 2000-2014, with additional statistics from 2015-2020, to paint a fairly detailed portrait of an industry that often eludes advocates.

Animal Testing & Vaccine Effectiveness

With the development of vaccines for Covid-19 in 2020 and distribution through 2021, the popularity of this post was not surprising — and it's certainly worth reading if you are both pro-science and pro-animals (which we hope you all are)!

Twitter Trends Analysis

This original Faunalytics study looked at a year of Twitter data on specific keywords, with a range of interesting results that can help frame and shape how you use that social media platform for your advocacy.

Greyhound Advocacy & Adoption

The commercial greyhound racing industry is waning — but what happens when the industry shuts down? This blog post looks at how advocacy will advance, and adoption networks will play a key role.

Are Consumers Really Confused By Plant-Based Food Labels?

Animal industries are adamant that plant-based food labels confuse and trick consumers into buying foods they think are conventional meat, eggs, and dair. This study found that was not the case.

Five Ways To Look Meat Alternatives

This extremely throrough review of plant-based and cell-based meats — and how they compare to conventional meat — is a must read for advocates looking for the latest comparative knowledge on the subject.

What Influences People To Go Vegan?

This survey from Australia comes with a large sample size (12,000 respondents) and a number of caveats (respondents gathered through an open online survey, not representative of the general population). Still, the results do offer some interesting points to consider in veg advocacy.

Popcorn And Wheek: British Guinea Pigs Are Doing Well

This is perhaps our favorite title of 2021, and our readers seemed to love it as well! This survey from the U.K. looks at guinea pig welfare and the how guardians feel that their wee ones are doing.

Was there a particular study summary, original study, or visual resource that you found especially useful this past year? We would love to hear about it. If you appreciate what we do, you can support our work to inform the animal advocacy movement.

Meet the Author: karol orzechowski

karol orzechowski is a longtime animal advocate with a passion for advocacy, art, statistics, and tech. In addition to producing numerous short films on various animal issues, karol is the director of Maximum Tolerated Dose, a feature-length documentary about the psychological toll of vivisection on both animals and humans. He completed a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and an MA in Communications and Culture at York University, writing theses on nationalism and the Atlantic seal hunt, and Canadian rodeo culture, respectively. When he's not working for Faunalytics, karol is the Board Chair of a non-profit independent news publication in his hometown. Outside of work, karol is often reading about computer hacking and infosec, organizing and performing at events in his local arts scene, or walking with Raoul the rescue dog.

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