About Exotic Pets

Exotic animals are not like house pets such as dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, certain species of birds and even fish. Exotic animals are wild animals which the brave and the undaunted want to keep as pets, so as to be unique among their peer pet owners. Perhaps another reason is a genuine attraction to or interest in an out-of the ordinary animal. Some examples of exotic animals which are reared as pets are hedgehogs, wallabies, snakes, sugar gliders and geckos.

The interaction between these pets and their owners is very limited and can be dangerous too since the animals being unpredictable, can lash out and hurt their owners, deservedly or otherwise. Thus exotic animals make poor pets.

The pets are not allowed to roam at will and suffer a life sentence of misery, caged in cramped quarters, unlike the wild they recently came from. When the owners tire of them, they cannot be sent back to their natural habitat as they have become too dependent on their owners for food or care. If they are lucky, the local sanctuary will take them in, otherwise, euthanasia is the only sad solution.

To my knowledge, there are not many Singaporeans, if any, rearing exotic animals as pets. However, an incident in a primary school made me wonder.

Early one morning, there was a big commotion on the school field. A python, at least least metres long, was found curled round the school fence. If pythons could look miserable, it looked miserable indeed and fearful too. The thought uppermost in the minds of the school authorities was “How did the python get there? The story had a happy ending as the python was accepted by the local zoo, probably to be released in the wild, later. A demand for exotic animals, whether locally or in other parts of the world, results in depleting their numbers in the wild and endangering their species. It can also lead to poaching and smuggling of such animals.

Keeping exotic animals as pets should be banned, worldwide.