Nearly 4,000 dangerous wild animals, including lions, tigers, rattlesnakes and crocodiles, are being kept legally as exotic pets in Britain – an increase of 59 per cent in two decades, according to a new report.
Elephants, venomous lizards, scorpions, lemurs, pumas, cheetahs, wolves, zebras, sun bears and camels are also being privately kept under licence.
Mark Jones, of Born Free, the wildlife charity that compiled the report, said: “These figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg. They only record those animals [that are] being kept and registered with a DWA licence. We believe that many additional dangerous wild animals are being kept without a licence.”
It’s calling on the Government to immediately review the law and “put a stop to some of the world’s most remarkable, but often deadly, creatures being kept as ‘pets’ in unsuitable captive conditions”.
Since the millennium, Born Free has seen a dramatic increase in the number of exotic pets in private ownership, including a 94 per cent increase in the number of venomous snakes, a 57 per cent rise in wild cats and a tripling of crocodiles, alligators and caimans. Meanwhile, scorpion numbers have soared more than 20-fold.
Currently, under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, anyone in Britain can keep a dangerous wild animal as long as they obtain a licence from their local authority.
The licencing process requires the applicant to demonstrate that their animals are properly contained so as to prevent escape and protect the public, but this does little to ensure the welfare of the animals or the protection of the owner or anyone else visiting the property, Born Free says.
Dr Jones said: “It is unbelievable that, in this day and age, so many dangerous animals are in private ownership in the UK. Increasing demand for all kinds of wild animals as exotic pets puts owners and the wider public at risk of injury or disease. It also results in serious animal suffering, and the demand increases the pressure on many wild populations which are often already under threat.”
Last year, a hybrid Savannah cat escaped in Hampstead, London, while a seven-foot-long Boa constrictor appeared in someone’s back garden in the Isle of Sheppey biting a man’s hand and wrapping itself around his wrist.
Meanwhile, a woman was bitten in the eye by a python at a Mayfair club and almost blinded, while a man in Hampshire was killed by his 8ft long African rock python
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