Brock Afentul, owner of the popular YouTube channel “2Can.TV”, is a person who has been slowly growing in popularity ever since he began sharing vlogs of his first and former toucan, Ripley. At first glance, his videos are charming and fun. A toucan eating blueberries? Taste testing sparkling water? That’s fun. And I mean, who doesn’t love toucans? They’re beautiful, entertaining birds, unique in both appearance and behavior from other species of birds commonly seen in captivity and as pets.
Speaking of “pets”, this is exactly where the issue arises. You see, Mr. Afentul does not support keeping any species of toucan as a pet. In fact, he goes a step beyond that, and claims they make terrible pets, and views keeping them as such abusive— unless he’s the one doing it, of course. Conveniently enough (and as with all people who claim an animal cannot be a pet while keeping it as a pet themselves) reality seems to bend to fit his ego. Mr. Afentul also believes in ending the captive trade of toucans in the United States, certainly an opinion that deserves a sour look from anybody who owns these birds!
As stated above, despite his bold and extreme views on pet toucans, he not only does as he condemns, but also actively fights his own activism for toucans making “terrible pets that you shouldn’t want” by showing himself having fun with them— something that makes people want them too. Playing with them, petting them, cuddling them, you name it. He certainly does not seem to hate owning his toucans, especially not if he can purchase or take in multiple birds under the same roof of his house. If these animals were half as bad a pet as he makes them out to be, he would be miserable.
“Expert” vs Expert?
To further add fuel to the fire here, Mr. Afentul claims toucans require specialized care that only experts can provide. It is worth noting he is neither a zoologist nor a zookeeper. He has no degree in any animal or biological field; he is self taught, as most pet owners are. And to the extent of my knowledge, he also lives by himself and is the soul caretaker of his collection of birds. If these birds required such delicacy that only AZA zoos (equipped with actual animal experts, veterinarians, and avian nutritionists) could possibly give them a healthy life, then Mr. Afentul’s birds would surely all be dead or dying.
Continuing on from discussing his collection of birds...
The Collection & “Sanctuary”
Afentul is obviously selective with the toucans he “rescues” from the pet trade. His current collection of birds features one of every species of toucan available in the United States. The majority of his birds were not taken in in poor conditions, are tame, and were purchased or given to him specifically to be pets. His late red billed toucan was purchased from a breeder for $6,500, in fact. True sanctuaries do not operate this way! A sanctuary takes in animals in the order of which is in the most need for refuge. Not in order of which bird species is rare and missing from his collection. This is akin to a big cat sanctuary only taking in white lions and golden tabby tigers, and utterly wrong.
Dishonesty & Narcissism
Mr. Afentul has an extensive track record of narcissistic behavior, as you can see above. He believes himself to be, in his own words, one of the leading experts on toucans in the country, and in his mind, is a qualified professional on par with AZA zoo employees who work with toucans.
Afentul cannot take criticism and refuses to discuss his past, including the disappearance of the first toucan he owned, a collared aracari named Zoe, who you can see in the photo below. There is an entire album of here in fact, which you can find here
He even claims that he had plans to breed toucans “as a side job” in the future, and basked in the attention women and Redditors gave him for owning a toucan, bragging about how women loved his exotic animals (don’t worry, I think this is gross too)— which makes sense, given he currently can’t get enough of all the attention from his YouTube fans, which like to mob and harass anybody who has a negative opinion of their self perceived God, going as far as to tell people to kill themselves. Their cult-like behavior is rather concerning and sad in all honesty.
You can find said Reddit thread here... Oh. And the ultimate kicker? He advocated for pet toucans, had a generally positive opinion of them, and claimed they make fun pets, contradicting his current opinions entirely. How ironic.
Definitely nothing suspicious here! 👍
I could ramble on about this for ages, but for the sake of time, I will have to end it here. Rest assured, you can expect more articles about 2Can.TV in the future, especially about Zoey the collared aracari.
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