Do Wild Animals Make Good Pets?

Humans have always been fascinated by wild animals. The ancient Romans, for instance, kept all sorts of wild pets including lions, elephants, leopards, and more. And thanks to today's social media, we're constantly bombarded by cute, innocuous pictures and video clips of humans cuddling their wild pets. Consequently, we downplay the dangers posed by these animals. What would you do if you found a baby deer or baby monkey in the wild? Most people begin to envision how they can take it home to raise it as a newly found pet. Of course, you should never do that! In this post, we explore why wild animals make horrible pets.

They are Not Domesticated

Conventional pets like cats and dogs have been domesticated through selective breeding for many years. Wild animals still have an innate aggressive behavioral and psychological makeup required for their survival in the wild. Even if you start caring for the wild pet as a baby their natural aggressive instinct begins to show forth as it grows older. That's why wild animals can typically only be tamed rather than domesticated.

Safety Concerns

As noted, wild animals are not domesticated. Hence, this makes them more unpredictable compared to domestic animals. Wild pets are more likely to scratch, bite, attack their owners, their owner's children, and even guests. Even though that might not be intended, a sudden change in the environment—like fireworks or an ambulance siren—may startle and cause them to act arbitrarily. In response, most wild pet owners may say, My animal (be it a tiger, monkey, raccoon, etc.) is different. We share a special bond, and it could never even harm a fly. Well, that's usually the case until it isn't. In the United States, for instance, about 15 people are either seriously injured or killed by captive tigers.

Legal Issues

Because of the dangers posed by wild pets to pet owners and community members, several cities prohibit the ownership of certain wild animal species as pets. For instance, it is illegal to own foreign insects as pets in the United States. As invasive species, they can damage crops and perhaps out-compete native and beneficial organisms for survival. You can always confirm from your local wildlife authority the laws that pertain to keeping wild pets in your vicinity.

Endangered Species

From time to time, you hear in the news how one animal species is going extinct. More often than not, their decline is tied to some human actions. How do you think exotic pet trades work? It's quite simple: countless animals are taken from the wild—usually as babies—and they might be used in breeding operations, sold locally, smuggled out of the country, or deliberately labeled as captive breeds. But here's the catch: most captured animals die before reaching their destination. So for every wild animal that enters the exotic pet trade, many more have died. But that's not all. These wild pets sometimes escape or are deliberately released back into the wild. At this point, they no longer have the skills to survive independently. You can now see how trading endangered species like tigers, parrots, and snow leopards is actively contributing to their further decline.

Improper Welfare

Imagine this scenario. You're locked up in a cage—unable to interact with other humans—and maybe you're tied up to prevent you from escaping. What do you think this will do to your emotional, psychological, and physical state of mind? It'll go haywire! Why? Because humans are not built to live in those conditions. In the same way, wild animals are not built for the conditions provided by the majority of average pet owners. Backyard cages and living rooms cannot replace the complex wild environments needed for the development of wild animals. And in many instances, wild pets are usually brought up in isolation, thereby depriving them of developing the social skills needed to interact with other members of their species, leading to a lonely life for them.

What's more, wild animals have special nutritional needs that may be difficult to fulfill. For instance, feeding pet raccoons with cow milk when they're young can harm them. Furthermore, owners of wild pets sometimes disarm them by removing dangerous bodily parts. For instance, it is not unusual to defang a pet snake, especially if it's venomous. The teeth of wild animals, as well as their claws, may be removed in an attempt to control aggression. However, all of this leads to the further handicap of the animal, which can make their lives more miserable.

Risk of Diseases

Wild animals harbor lots of zoonotic diseases that can prove lethal to humans (especially those with a vulnerable immune system like infants and the elderly). Entertaining the idea of owning pet raccoons? Viral diseases of raccoons include rabies, canine distemper, and Leptospirosis among many others. Thinking of having a pet monkey? Monkeys can carry the herpes virus that can be contracted by humans. What's more, there is no cure for herpes. Reptiles like snakes carry Salmonella which can be transmitted to humans. Wild animals also carry internal parasites like tapeworms, ascarid worms, and flukes—all of which can result in fatal diseases in humans. External parasites like ticks and fleas can also be transmitted from wild animals to humans and pets. The main challenge with vaccination is there are no certified vaccines for wild animals. Vaccines used for domestic animals have not been proven to be effective for wild animals.

Wild animals do not make good pets because of the several risks they pose—from unpredictable aggressiveness to lethal diseases. So before you go shopping for pet raccoons, tigers, or monkeys, ensure you weigh the risks and benefits accordingly.