What's Up with Exotic Pets

"Dogs and cats need homes. Wild animals need to be left alone" 

by Tim Harrison, Director of 'Outreach for Animals' organisation in Ohio to aid owners transfer their exotic animals to sanctuaries.

Sun bear cub found in KL apartment. Pic taken from The Star

This year of 2019, we have witnessed a number of cases where individuals own exotic pets without permits: a six-month-old sun bear cub was found in an apartment in Kuala Lumpur and the most recent one, on 6th of August, a man was detained by Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) for keeping a sun bear cub together with several species of protected birds in his business premises in Johor Bahru. 

Exotic pets refers to pets that are more unusual than the typical dog or cat. Behind the glamorous side of owning a non-typical pets, exotic pets require a great care and attention. Besides having specialised nutritional and environmental requirements, owners are required to work closely with professional veterinarian to learn about proper handling methods and to ensure that their exotic pets receive up-to-date medical care to prevent the risk of coming into contact with zoonotic diseases. 

Failure to fulfil the animal's necessity only brings more harm than good for both people and the animals. Confined space due to small cages or pen size is one of the biggest potential sources of stress for captive animals, especially in carnivores. Conversely, having a larger cage size can be stressful for prey animals such as small rodents due to their natural history of being hunted in open space. 

As a result of persistent exposure to the stressors, there will be negative consequences towards the animals such as increased abnormal and self-injurious behaviour which not only harmful, but proven to be fatal for the animals and to the people in close contact with them. In June this year, a senior Malaysian citizen found dead due to massive blood lose as a result of being bitten by his five-year-old pet monkey. 

Lacking in knowledge and skills on how to take care of these exotic pets will put both owners and animals at high risk. Pic from ABC News.

Malaysian law sets out that only exotic animals bred in captivity can be sold in shops. However, many pet shops in the country remain evasive when being asked about the source of the shop's animal supply. 

Adam Roberts, CEO of 'Born Free USA', an organisation that fights against exploitation of wild animals explained that there are several categories of exotic-pet owners: (i) treat animals as surrogate children where the owners try to humanise the animals by dressing them up and put diapers on them (usually happen to primates), (ii) as symbols of status and power and (iii) impulse buyers that buy baby animals out of "cute factor". 

On the other hand, some owners voiced out that they want to preserve and protect threatened species that may serve as a backup population if the animals went extinct in the wild due to climate change and expanding human population. 

Nevertheless, whatever the reasons could be behind owning an exotic pet, none of it can actually justify the animals' rights to live with their kinds and to roam freely in the wilderness. Additionally, by humanising the animals, it will make the animals to be dependent on human, losing their natural instincts and will require a lot of rehabilitation before it can survive by itself in the wild.

By privately owning an exotic pet, it can cause more harms than good. It will drive the demands of illegal trade of exotic animals where the mother is most likely to be slaughtered in order to get the baby and contributes to further decline of the wild population. 

End of story: Let's just keep our wildlife wild.

A one-month-old leopard was smuggled in passenger's hand luggage reflects the dark side of exotic pet trade. Pic from The Independent.

Want to know more?
More on exotic pets: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2014/04/exotic-pets/

Sun bear spotted in KL condo: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/07/sun-bear-spotted-in-kl-condo

Man held for keeping sun bear cub and protected birds: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/08/06/man-held-for-keeping-sun-bear-cub-and-protected-birds

Restricted movement as a source of stress for captive animals: Morgan, K. and Tromboth, C. (2007) Sources of stress in captivity.
https://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/2008_syllabus/2008_readings/1_MorganTromborg2008.pdf

Owner dies after bitten by pet monkeys: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/497609/owner-dies-after-bitten-pet-monkey-nsttv