just wondering... exotic animals poll

[skeetersunconure]

how many of you agree with being able to keep exotic animals (responsible ownership) of big cats like tigers or ya know zebras and servals and bobcats and kinkajous and wallabies and similar animals why or why not personally i think that responsible owners should be allowed to with approved facilities and a permit. what about you? thanks! this means alot to me....

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I don't think it should be encouraged particularly and I especially don't think that animals that are doing well in the wild should be removed from the wild to become pets. On the other hand, birds are technically exotics! The right animal in the right hands can be an acceptable situation, but in most cases exotics are kept like some sort of status symbol or decoration. It has to be a very special situation, but I wouldn't say categorically no.

[skeetersunconure]

I can respect that

[Giantmoa]

where I work there is a bobcat, kinkajou, porcipines, etc... but its a zoo! the animals all have specialized diets and interaction and enclosures with different daily enrichment and lots of cleaning (I would know...)! all of these animals require a great deal of work and I would shudder to think of the average person (who works and probably doesn't have the space/time/money for these animals) keeping them as pets. And tigers? yikes I can't imagine many who could even begin to deal with that level of expertise! parrots are as far as I would personally go into exotic animal ownership, though the porcipine I know is pretty friggin cool There are exeptions to just about every rule though... exotic animals out there who've been delt a bad hand and can no longer survive in the wild deserve a place to live and if someone can provide that, then why not?

[TheNzJessie]

where I work there is a bobcat, kinkajou, porcipines, etc... but its a zoo! the animals all have specialized diets and interaction and enclosures with different daily enrichment and lots of cleaning (I would know...)! all of these animals require a great deal of work and I would shudder to think of the average person (who works and probably doesn't have the space/time/money for these animals) keeping them as pets. And tigers? yikes I can't imagine many who could even begin to deal with that level of expertise! parrots are as far as I would personally go into exotic animal ownership, though the porcipine I know is pretty friggin cool There are exeptions to just about every rule though... exotic animals out there who've been delt a bad hand and can no longer survive in the wild deserve a place to live and if someone can provide that, then why not?

yea i work at a zoo to but its not called a zoo its called a wildlife sanctuary the sanctuary is privately owned its pretty special considering it has new zealands only african elephant , there is an otter who has one eye and his other eye gets infected so hes basically blind tommy is probably the most tame otter in the world most otters bite and are extremely viscous but not tommy i clean his pond every saturday and he always comes up to me and ull feel his whiskers ticking the back of your leg he wants to know wear you are because hes basically blind. do you mind if a share a couple of photos? i took them on the 4th of september. the zoo is pretty hands on but i guess it depends of u would class handing as treating them as pets. i have a couple of photos with me with the animals. hahahaha i can TOATALLY relate to the cleaning ahahahahah the person who owns the zoo gave up after about 7 times with tommysa filter on his pond because he kept stuffing stones down it. so who is the lucky person go gets to scrub the algae off the bottom and refill it every week oh and slip on the sides every time, ull notice in the photo im always on the edge cose u slip if you go any further!

i think there is a fine line between pets and having hand on animals at a zoo

[Kim S]

I believe you need a permit to keep the bigger or endangered animals in the US? I'm not really sure about the rule sover there. But if there were a way to controll who gets what animals I would be ok with it.
I mean, everybody even thinking of owning that kind of animal should take a course and finish it with good grades. This course should be take at leats once every 2 to 5 years so the keepers will stay updated on animal welfare.
There should be regular check ups by the government to make sure the animals are treated right.

[Ryan416]

I think it's totally ignorant to keep large carnivores in captivity as a pet (excluding most dogs), especially for use in television/entertainment. With some of the amazing nature series available I don't really see the need to have a "zoo". Wildlife reserves and occasionally for animal research being the only exception.

I'm sure we have all heard about Travis the chimp.

[Michael]

I voted some cases. I don't a random average person should be keeping them. But there are zoos, circuses, animal trainers, tv trainers, etc. They have fantastic relationships with their animals and shouldn't be denied it based on other people's opinions. I don't think it's our business to tell them not to have those animals (assuming they were acquired through legitimate and humane means) as much as it is not other people's business to tell us not to keep parrots.

[rebeccaturpeinen]

it isnt very acceptable here in Denmark, maybe its even illegal (they recently band 13 different breeds of dogs and a lot of puppies had to be put to sleep )

but, and this is a big but cos most people can not live up to what these kind of animals need IF you really have the space and the money and the time and the knowledge and KNOW for 100% sure you will continue to have all of these things for years and years and years then maybe i would say its acceptable. but those are a lot of ifs... these animals can not just get rehomed so it would be very important that you can take care of it for many years. it is the same for birds... but i think every one can agree that there is a big difference between a tiger and a parrot.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Jesse, great pictures! Have you ever read "Ring of Bright Water?" It was written before the problems inherent in keeping wild animals as pets became well known, but it is an autobiographical account of a man and his otter(s).