Exotic Pets
- There are more tigers kept as pets in the USA than there are left in the wild
The keeping of wild animals as ‘exotic pets’ is on the increase around the world. Driven primarily by unthinking public demand, animals such as big cats, primates, reptiles, exotic rodents and birds are commonly kept in private households.
A variety of these animals are widely available from pet shops and animal breeders but an increasing number are advertised for sale through publications and the Internet. Entering the exotic pet market through both legal and illegal importers, many of the animals are bred to supply the demand, however some animals are wild-caught and others are displaced from zoos and circuses, as a result of uncontrolled breeding.
Wild or exotics animals, whether captive-bred or wild-caught, are by nature wild and do not respond well to captivity. They may look ‘cute’ and benign when they are young but as adults many become destructive, unpredictable and physically dangerous, while others may carry diseases such as Herpes B or salmonella, potentially lethal to humans.
In the UK, wild animals deemed ‘hazardous’ are licensed under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976. However, this legislation was created mainly to protect the public rather than ensure high standards of animal welfare.
Some facts about exotic pets:
- In the UK there are known to be at least 154 big cats held in private hands (including 12 lions and 14 tigers), almost 500 assorted monkeys, over 250 venomous snakes and 50 members of the crocodile family. (Big cats in Britain, 2006)
- Between 1994-2004, the European Union was one of the largest importers of wild-caught birds, importing a massive 9.5 million birds of species listed in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – equivalent 87% of world trade. However, as a result of the avian influenza outbreak and campaigning by the RSPB¹, APA² and others, July 2007 brought permanent ban on the import of wild birds into Britain and the rest of the European Union.
- The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that in the United States, in 2000 alone, 9 million reptiles were kept as pets.
- In the United States it is estimated that there are more captive tigers in private hands than living in the wild in Asia.
- In the United States, the number of reptiles, especially iguanas, imported per year has increased considerably to >1 million. The number of human cases of salmonellosis, especially in very young children, increased dramatically in parallel with iguana pet ownership. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that >7% of human infections with salmonellae in the United States are associated with having handled a reptile. (Chomel, Belotto and Meslin, 2007)
1Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
2Animal Protection Agency
The Born Free Foundation opposes the keeping of wild or exotic animals as pets and seeks ways to influence and encourage a change in public opinion away from keeping wild animals in captivity, in favour of their protection in the wild.
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