косатка wrote:
I am very glad to see a bit more positivity towards exotics here. I have to disagree with some of you though, but I was truly expecting nothing but "its cruelty", because that is what I usually hear. To start, I have to say that I hate the word "exotic". What does it mean? Someone may call a wolf exotic, even though they live in a place where they are native. In Australia "exotics" are banned, but they mean foreign species not native to their land. Then some say exotics are wild animals, or "uncommon" animals, or "dangerous" animals. Some say a ferret is exotic, but yet they are domestic animals. It is all very confusing so I just say "domestic" or "nondomestic". However, I'll still use the word "exotic" as that's what most are familiar with.
There is absolutely no reason why someone who knows what they are doing should not be allowed to have an animal. As long as they have the space, time, money, and passion to care for an animal and are able to obtain the animal in an ethical manner, there is absolutely no reason why they should not be given the opportunity to own the animal they wish to own.
It's dangerous? Well, then large domestics like horses and camels shouldn't be kept either, as they are both extremely dangerous.
All these bans are actually very detrimental to the survival of species. For example, there used to be many breeders for ocelots in the United States, many of which would work along side zoological facilities. However, once they became "protected", their numbers dropped significantly. Thankfully, there are still plenty of breeders in the UK, Russia, and Asian countries, but either way, to export/import them you'll have to mess around with CITES which isn't fun and next to impossible with an appendix I animal. Anyway, many zoos in Europe have to breed their animals (which makes sense, as breeding is a vital part of conservation). These zoos end up with surplus, and they can't always give to other zoos because those zoos need to save their space. Many zoos in Europe used to give out surplus animals to private individuals, but now Europe has gotten extremely AR minded and surplus animals often get euthanized. Why can't they go on to qualified private keepers? That way, zoos can do what they are supposed to do (raise the number of animals of a species and have more chances to study the pregnancies of animals) without being slowed down by something like surplus, no animals get euthanized, and private keepers get to keep the animal of their dreams. Exotic pet ownership won't help animals in the wild, at least not directly, but a population in captivity is better than none at all, or a fading one in the wild. And zoos can't keep every endangered species around by themselves.
As for monkeys... if you aren't okay with those being kept as pets then you, logically, should not be okay with parrots. Both are wild animals, are extremely intelligent, very social, and have difficult care needs... yet most people have a problem with monkeys rather than parrots. Parrots are still controversial, but not nearly as much so as monkeys. Why is that? The larger primates I get, but what is wrong with a squirrel monkey or a marmoset if parrots like macaws and cockatoos are a-okay?? (The current standard for bird keeping is extremely bad, imo. My dream birds include the western jackdaw and hyacinth macaw and NO WAY will I subject them to wing clipping and small cages. They will have a large aviary and opportunities for free flight.)
I am a future owner of "exotic" cats, corvids, parrots, genets, foxes, and venomous reptiles and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. I actually know quite a few people on a different forum site just for exotic talk. These people truly love and care about their animals and animals in general. One of them actually wants to start their own conservation center one day. I have heard stories of people having their animal ripped away from the home they know and away from their loving owners, often to be euthanized, simply because people personally believe that it is wrong or unethical to keep certain animals as pets. However, I support regulation! I don't think some random person should go out and just pick up a tiger at their local pet shop. Breeders should be licensed and follow strict rules, and buyers should prove that they have what it takes to care for the animal. I even feel this way when it comes to domestics. But in the end, I firmly believe that people who know what they are doing should have the chance to keep any animal as a pet.
Here are some great articles written by a fellow exotic pet owner: X X X I highly suggest reading them! I certainly do not agree with them on everything, but they still have some very good information in their articles.
blueh wrote:Alright, so I'm going to define exotics in this post rare or unusual animal pet, or an animal kept within human households which is generally thought of as a wild species not typically kept as a pet and is NOT DOMESTICATED. As someone who has worked with several exotic species (specifically crocodilians and wolfdogs, but I have experience with others as well) and own some myself, have started & kept up with a reptile rescue for years as well as being heavily involved in herpetology (research and conservation) and other exotic related activities, I can safely say that certain species of exotics should not be owned by humans. When I say certain exotics, I mean large predator species that are not domesticated such as large cats, large canines and large reptiles (there are others as well, but I'm sure most people will understand the gist of this). Smaller species with easy husbandry (leopard geckos, bearded dragons, budgies, etc) are fine so long as the care provided is correct and kept up to date. Even species such as Burmese Pythons can be fine depending on the handler.
I'm going to focus a lot on herps in this post because that is what I am most qualified to talk about as well as having the most experience about, but I can touch on some other species as well.
To start, I'd like to remind everyone that the reason that we can safely own larger and dangerous animals such as horse and camels are because they are domesticated species that were created to work. They are bred over thousands and thousands of years to be in tune with humans and, most importantly, are prey animals. They don't have the instincts that exotics do because it was bred out of them by humans to create an animal that can live around humans.
Exotics such as large cats, wolves, and crocodilians? Not so much.
I am not saying that we should ban owning these animals since that would only cause more harm than good. The black market, which is already bad enough to begin with, would be over-flooded and it would just make everything worse. However, animal welfare and regulation laws are severely lacking. In Texas, there is a required permit to own an American Alligator, yet I can buy a Nile Crocodile (one of the most deadly species of crocodilian) for a few hundred dollars on Facebook. Backwater reptiles sells American Alligators, Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman, Smooth-Fronted Caiman, Morelet's crocodile with just the click of a button. It's easy to find exotic bybs and importers that sell the animals simply to sell them.
That is not okay.
I worked with a juvenile C. niloticus for a year (research on juvenile crocodilian morphometrics). Aside from research, I trained and raised her so when she was older, she would be able to be placed in a zoo. From the time she was 30 cm to the time she was 60cm, she was easily the hardest animal that I have ever worked with (and I have worked with a lot of animals). It's not just enclosure size and diet that you have to worry about; it's future temperament, husbandry, training, etc. If I messed up while she was young, she could seriously hurt someone by the time she was 14+ feet. There is so much time and energy that goes into owning and working with a single exotic. People don't seem to understand that this is not just like owning another pet. This is a life commitment and a lifestyle change.
Outside of conservation, education and research, there should be absolutely no reason to own one of these animals. Regulations need to be put in place to stop things like this from happening and weeding out those that can't and won't care for these animals. I understand that most people think they can handle certain species, but what happens if they can't? Then both the animal and the handler suffer from it. People have to understand that these animals do not make good pets. Dogs, cats and livestock were domesticated for a reason.
Education is an absolute must when it comes to exotics. Pushing for updated research and husbandry requirements will help keep the general public away simply because they don't want to have to put that much work into an animal. If husbandry is taught properly, there will be less neglect and less incidents that could potentially cause both parties harm. And, as much as people won't want to hear this, sometimes 'doing research' is not enough. Getting experience with behavior, health and other concerns in exotics as well as getting hands on learning should be something that everyone strives to do.
tl;dr: certain species of exotics are fine to own while others should require permits. education is a must when it comes to owning exotics
Unfortunately, these dogs are starting to rise a bit too much in popularity, despite the fact that most people are not capable of caring for them.
Keep in mind that most people don't even want a crocodile or tiger, and the majority of those who do are very serious about it.
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