1. Wild animals belong in the wild

While cats and dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, adapting them to live alongside humans, wild animals are born to be wild.

Many species lead intricate lives with extensive social dynamics. The natural behaviours they exhibit in the wild simply cannot be replicated in a captive environment. Even those that are bred in captivity possess the same genetic traits as their wild counterpart, making them unsuitable for a life as a pet.

Most captive environments are simply inadequate for these animals. Snakes are often kept in tanks so small that they are unable to stretch out their body. Parrots, who are rarely alone in the wild, are often kept solitary in small cages. This is no life for an exotic wild animal. 

2. Many exotic animals are still taken from the wild

Many animals start their lives in the wild before being abruptly and cruelly ripped from their home and their family to become a pet.

The tactics used to capture these wild animals are utterly inhumane. One example, revealed through World Animal Protection investigations, is the use of live bait to attract and trap wild macaws. The method revealed by these investigations involved tying a live bird to the ground or a tree, where they would serve as bait. Under extreme duress, the trapped bird’s distress call attracts other concerned macaws who were themselves trapped and stolen from their homes to be sold into the exotic pet trade.

3. Wild animals bred in captivity equally suffer

While captive breeding is often suggested as a humane alternative to wild capture, it still leads to immense suffering.

Over and above the fact that wild animals belong in the wild, methods of breeding for selective traits that are attractive to consumers can have a further negative impact on the animal’s physical and mental health.

This impact is most seen in snakes and other reptiles, where the demand for unique genetically altered versions, or “morphs”, is increasing. These selectively bred reptiles often show signs of neurological disorders that impacts the animals’ welfare.

4. Their needs are not met in captivity

Wild animals suffer in captivity. There is no way to replicate the space and freedom that wild animals need in a home.

A life in captivity limits the natural behaviour of an animal and places both their mental and physical wellbeing at risk. They often lack adequate shelter, food, room to roam, or control over their environment.

In the wild, an African grey parrot can fly up to ten kilometres a day to forage and interact with their large social network. Yet in captivity, they are most often confined to a solitary life in a cage. This is extremely detrimental to their mental health. Many captive wild birds resort to a form of self-mutilation called feather plucking where they rip out all of their feathers.

5. The exotic pet trade endangers wild populations

The rise in popularity of exotic wild pets has threatened wild populations. As more animals are ripped from their homes, fewer individuals remain in the wild.

Every year, as many as 21% of the total wild population of African grey parrots are poached. This is a species already in danger of extinction. Although they are now protected from international commercial trade, they remain threatened by the active illegal wildlife trade.

There has also been a growing trend of people wanting otters as pets. This demand is causing them to be callously ripped from their homes. Poachers tend to capture the young and amenable otters, and often kill their protective parents in the process. As a result of this disturbing practice, wild populations of smooth-coated otter and Asian small-clawed otters have declined over 30% in the last 30 years.