Why wild animals should be kept as pets

Keeping wild animals as pets can be appealing. Their beauty and uniqueness, as well as the prestige of owning such an animal, can be extremely tempting. Adding to the attraction, of owning wild animals, is the popularity of wildlife owners on social media sites that seem to attract hundreds of thousands of followers. These chronological day-by-day posts give the illusion that ownership of wild animals is nothing short of an exciting, fun-filled life that you, too, could have.  However, it is important to remember that keeping a wild animal as a pet is associated with many potential problems, including legal and ethical issues. 

What Defines an Animal as Wild or Exotic?

• Found in nature

• Has lived for thousands of years without direct human influence

• Evolved behaviors and adaptations

• Successful in surviving in their own complex environments

• Examples include (but are not limited to) monkeys, tigers, parrots, big cats, reptiles, snakes, foxes, lemurs, raccoons and squirrels

Wild Animal Behaviors:

• An evolutionary marvel of reactions and instincts

• Exhibit strong will

• Can never be tamed in the domesticated sense  

• Strongly affected by any source of stimulation

• Attempts to control the animal’s actions become a source of agitation

• The fact that you raised the wild animal or that it was born in captivity -
  does not domesticate it

• Their social needs are generally unknown

• As the animal matures, the need for a mother ends and the instinctual behavior of the adult animal replaces the dependent behavior of the baby or juvenile 

Ethical Issues:

• Appropriate care for wild animals requires considerable expertise/training

• Providing appropriate and humane care; meeting this responsibility of care for wild animals is usually impossible-invariably it is the animal that suffers

• Recognizing medical problems for the untrained individual/owner is difficult

• Finding a vet with wild animal expertise in your area could be improbable

• Suffering may begin with the capture of wild animals-many animals die on the way to the distributing entity

• Wild pet trade threatens the very existence of many species causing extinction
  or endangered status

• Pet trade has had a significant negative impact on wild populations
  of many species

• Can pose a danger to human health and safety through disease and parasites

• Wild animals can never be domesticated or tamed - the risk of major injury or even death is ALWAYS present

• Wild animals by nature are self-sufficient and fare best without human interference

• Released/escaped wild animals can become an invasive species that compete
  with or cause extinction of native species (see photo to right)

Legal Issues:

• Potential dangers and liabilities

• Lawsuits filed on owners due negligence that results in harm or death of individuals

• Fines for possessing such animals

• Prohibit of ownership, ILLEGAL by state laws, county and city ordinances 

The Unexpected:

• The cost of purchase price, food, enclosures

• Damage to home, furniture and possessions

• 24/7 supervision and 365 days of care for a duration of 10-15 years

• Finding appropriate animal sitters 

• Finding a veterinarian who can accommodate or accept your wild
  animal for treatment

hover on photos to learn more

These illegally trafficked leopard

and tiger heads make up one of the macabre sights at the National Eagle and Wildlife Property Repository, a warehouse in Denver, Colorado, that houses illegal wildlife products. 

– Photo by BRENNAN LINSLEY, AP

Carla Nash

before and after

being mauled

by a pet

chimpanzee. 

Constrictors

Over the past 30 years, these big snakes (including both the Boa and Python) have been bought and sold domestically and internationally. Pet owners often take these snakes into their homes and find that they cannot accommodate them as they grow. When the snakes get too big, owners often release them into the wild (i.e.: Florida Everglades), where they prey on endangered species. Under the Lacey Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to stop constrictor serpent imports into the country

and even ban transport between states.

Until recently, few people understood how potentially tragic it can be to own a wild animal as a pet. Instead of perpetuating the sale of wild/exotic pets, one might consider donating to a wild life sanctuary, zoo or wild life advocacy group. This would enable you the opportunity to protect wild life as opposed to endangering them. This action, in turn, gifts future generations the same opportunity to fall in love with, learn from and safeguard wild animals. Becoming a protector of wild life, whether through donations or by advocating for them, has far-reaching and everlasting benefits that largely outweigh the momentary satisfaction of possessing one.

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Pictured: an African grey parrot being kept as a pet. We believe that wild animals shouldn't be kept as exotic pets. A life in captivity is a world away from a natural life. Let's keep wild animals in the wild, where they belong.

The problems we're tackling:

Animals suffer during capture and transport

The journey for a wild animal in the exotic pet trade is cruel – and often deadly. Either poached from the wild or bred in captivity on a farm, these animals suffer long before they reach our homes. Often, they’re shipped long distances, and taken to countries vastly different from their original homes. Many exotic pets suffer and die in transit before they even reach their final destination.

In our investigations, we found that up to 66% of African grey parrots who have been poached from the wild for the exotic pet trade will die in transit.

Ball pythons, boa constrictors, geckos and sugar gliders are just some of the millions of animals suffering and dying in the exotic pet trade. Some are taken from the wild, others are cruelly bred. Pictured: Exotic pets on display at the Canadian Reptile and Exotic Pets Breeders’ Expo near Toronto, September 2018.

No wild animal can have its needs entirely met when kept as an exotic pet

We know people purchase exotic pets because they’re animal lovers. Animals bring joy to our lives, so it’s understandable that we’d want them to be part of our home. But many exotic pet owners are unaware of the suffering their animals endure.

Suffering is inherent in a life of captivity for a wild animal. Captivity limits their natural behaviour and places both their mental and physical well-being at risk. Inadequate captive environments can result in chronic stress and poor physical health. Wild animals are not pets; they belong in their natural habitat.

Taken from the wild

Many exotic pets start their lives free in the wild where they are captured to be sold into the pet trade. Research has shown that the exotic pet trade is a key threat to many species’ survival with large-scale poaching and theft from the wild devastating natural populations – adding to existing threats such habitat loss and the trade in wildlife for trophies, traditional medicine and entertainment. The methods used to snatch these animals from their natural habitats are cruel and inhumane; the numbers involved are shocking. As many as 21% of wild African grey parrots, a species already in danger of extinction, are captured for sale into the exotic pet trade each year. Over 55,000 Indian star tortoises at only one trading hub were recorded to have been collected from the wild in a single year. And an estimated 90% of traded reptile species and half of traded individuals are wild caught. Capturing animals from the wild for the exotic pet trade is happening on an industrial scale with devastating results.

Animals that manage to survive the pain and suffering caused by capturing methods face a perilous journey. Sold on to traders, they will be packed into small containers or crates, unable to breathe or move. Crammed into these small spaces, many will suffocate, starve, or succumb to diseases. Suitcases are stuffed full of tortoises. Dark, half metre crates are filled with so many parrots that they crush each other. Up to two thirds of African grey parrots will die during transportation. For other species, the true numbers of those who do not make it is often unknown, but even a 1% mortality rate can equate to millions of animals due to the size and scale of the exotic pet trade.

Captive breeding

Many animals caught from the wild end up in captive breeding facilities or farms. Others are bred in captivity themselves and then kept to produce offspring again and again. The breeding industry causes its own set of distinct problems for the animals trapped within them. It is by no means safe or cruelty-free.

As a starter, being born ­­in captivity does not make an animal domesticated - although they may become tame to the touch of humans, they are still wild animals. Also, the selective breeding that takes place to produce certain fur markings and scale patterns as well as altering the natural size can have a negative impact on the animals’ physical and mental health. This is particularly common in snakes and other reptiles as buyers increasingly want genetically altered versions, known as morphs, that bear little resemblance to their wild. Snakes and other reptiles who have been selectively bred to produce the most unique colours can show signs of neurological disorders, that impacts the animals’ welfare.

For those animals that survive the inhumane breeding industry, a life as a pet can cause further trauma. Research has shown that up to 75% of pet snakes, lizards and tortoises die within the first year in the home. With natural age ranges up to 120 years, it is thought that these deaths mostly occur from illnesses  related to their captivity. Also, exotic pets have been observed to display behaviours that researchers have likened to emotional trauma in humans. Parrots rip out their own feathers due to isolation and chronic stress – not dissimilar to self-harm in humans. Asian otters and sugar gliders have been observed to display repetitive destructive behaviours when kept in captivity, similar to people suffering from obsessive compulsive behaviours.

In a home, there is no way to replicate the space and freedom that wild animals need.

In our investigations, we found numerous concerns that speak to the broader welfare issues related to the keeping of wild animals as pets, below some specific examples related to reptiles:

• Basic needs not met: a high number of snakes, lizards, tortoises, and turtles die within one year of becoming a pet.
• Insufficient nutrition: in our investigations, we found that captive green iguanas, turtles and other reptiles often suffer from soft bone disease due to poor diet.
• Unhealthy contact:  Snakes kept as pets in Canada have been linked to a salmonella outbreak, involving hospitalizations,
• Confined in tiny spaces: Snakes are often kept in undersized tanks in which they aren’t able to stretch their body in full.
• Cruel captive breeding: artificial breeding in captivity can cause ball pythons serious genetic defects

Many Indian star tortoises die during transit from causes such as spread of disease or suffocation. Pictured: Star tortoise hatchlings are sorted and packaged to be smuggled out of India. 

Risks to human health

Zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans) pose a significant risk to human health. They cause approximately a billion cases of human illness and millions of deaths every year. At a global level, according to one estimate, the economic damage caused by emerging zoonoses are hundreds of billions US dollars in the past 20 years and in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic have caused an estimated 5.2% contraction in the global GDP.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and most infectious disease experts agree that the origins of future human pandemics are likely to be zoonotic, with wildlife emerging as the primary source. 75% of new or emerging infectious diseases over the past decade originated from animals and principally from wildlife (e.g., SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19).

Wild animals kept as exotic pets can be a source of infectious disease and stressed animals, with compromised immune systems are more prone to contracting and shedding pathogens, increasing the likelihood of making people ill. Exposure to these pathogens can happen at pet expos, stores, or when bringing a wild animal into a home, the risk of you or your family contracting an infectious zoonotic disease is significant.

35% of zoonotic diseases in humans have been linked to an exotic pet.

What to do if you already own an exotic pet

While keeping some exotic pets may involve less suffering than others,  wild animals cannot have  their needs met entirely in captivity. Only domesticated animals, like cats and dogs, should be kept in home environments because their needs can be met.

If you already own an exotic animal and haven’t done already, please seek expert advice from a specialized veterinarian to ensure you’re meeting as many of their welfare needs as possible. We encourage you to continue to give your exotic animal the best life possible, for as long as you can.

Never release an exotic pet into the wild. Most animals cannot survive and will either die from starvation, the weather or will be killed by other predators. While most released animals will likely die, some may survive and establish themselves in a non-native environment and become an invasive species. When this occurs, it can have serious negative implications for the local, native species of animals and their ecosystems. Examples of invasive species in Canada include red-eared sliders, Italian wall lizards and American bullfrogs.

To help keep wild animals in the wild where they belong, we ask you to commit to not purchasing another exotic pet in the future and to refrain from breeding the one you own.

African grey parrots are highly social wild animals and like to nest in large groups. In the wild they would fly up to several miles a day. Pictured: An African grey parrot being kept as a pet. (Photo credit: CC0 Creative Commons)

Consider adopting a domesticated pet instead of buying an exotic animal as a pet

Don’t buy exotic pets. We encourage everyone to appreciate and respect wild animals where they belong – in the wild.

We should only share our homes with domesticated animals who have evolved over thousands of years to be our companions and whose needs, when taking care of properly, can be completely met as pets.

Pets like cats, dogs and horses are domesticated. They have been selectively bred for specific traits that appear over many generations. Because these pets are domesticated, with the right care and conditions, they are able to live with humans in captivity without suffering.

The animals you won’t believe exist as pets in Canada

In 2019, World Animal Protection commissioned research to understand the scale of this issue at a national level. The data reveals that Canadians own millions of wild animals, including lions, tigers and alligators, despite these animals being entirely unsuitable as pets. Altogether, an estimated 1.4 million wild animals are kept as pets in Canada.

Learn more about our report and what we found about exotic animal ownership in Canada.

Read the report

The legality of owning wild animals as pets in Canada

In Canada, there is a patchwork of federal, provincial, and municipal regulations governing the trade and ownership of exotic animals. While laws  do exist, they vary greatly across the country and leave many gaps and loopholes resulting in the keeping of inappropriate wild animals as pets.

At the federal level, permits are required to import or export animal species that are threatened by trade and are listed in the appendices of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but many animal species are not covered. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates the trade of some animal species, such as turtles, which are required to have a permit when imported into Canada but, again, many animal species are not covered. Beside these two regulatory schemes no other restrictions on the trade of wild animals exists at a Federal level.

Provinces are in most cases responsible for regulated the trade, keeping and use of exotic wild animals. Not all provinces and territories have meaningful laws or regulations that adequately address these issues and a few provinces have simply downloaded all responsibilities regarding the trade, use and keeping of wild exotic animals to individual municipalities.

At a municipal level, many municipalities have animal control bylaws that include provisions for regulating the trade, use and keeping of certain kinds of exotic animals, unfortunately there is little consistency amongst them. Definitions of common terms (such as “exotic animal”) may differ from area to area; some kinds of animals may be prohibited in one jurisdiction but allowed in another; and few municipalities have robust criteria or processes for deciding which animals can be kept safely and humanely. Municipalities often lack sufficient internal expertise and resources to develop compressive regulations or to provide oversight and to meaningfully enforce their own bylaws.

At all level of government, most laws and regulations regarding the trade, use and keeping of exotic wild animals are reactive rather than preventative. Complaints, incidents or other situations have to occur in order for governments to act, which compounds an already problematic situation.

There is a desperate need for comprehensive, coordinated laws and regulations addressing the wide range of issues and problems inherent to the trade, use and keeping of exotic animals, including animal welfare, human health and safety and threats to native wildlife, natural ecosystems and biodiversity.

Visit our new campaign page to see which wild animals are permitted in your province/territory and how your province or territory compares to other areas.

Wild animal ownership laws in Canada