The truth behind viral social media videos of exotic animals | BBC News

I'm so against the ownership of exotic pets. They don't make good pets and people realize that it takes a lot of proper care so they get neglected. It's so sad that the animals suffer. Governments need to have stricter laws to stop the ownership. I won't watch any of these videos. Japan has animal cafes such as owls, prairie dogs, etc. The government allows this. The trade is just horrendous.

This isn&#39;t a black and white topic. As a fish biologist which researches fishes used by the pet trade, it&#39;s not simple. Terms such as exotics pet and wild animals has no real meaning, anyone against it should also consider if they have had anything from a goldfish, neon tetra to a hamster because they are included in these terms. Reports on exotic pets include commonly kept animals. While for mammals it&#39;s easier to understand but for fishes there would be little conservation or awareness without the pet trade. Science has a massive overlap with the pet industry yet most reports only include organisations who have little knowledge or experience with animal husbandry or worse like PETA or Vita which has no knowledge of animal biology. <br>There are issues but it requires collaboration, not extreme organisations that want to end pet ownership all together such as PETA or Born Free, this will include everyone who owns a pet, PETA has made it clear they don&#39;t want even dogs kept as pets and will do what it takes to get there.

In all honesty, this is how all domestic animals that arent kept for food were started. Dogs were wolves once upon a time and cats were wildcats. I think that the problems aren&#39;t really keeping them as pets but more the impact it has on the wild populations, illegal poaching and of course the dangerous ones need to be kept in appropriate conditions. But it isn&#39;t something that will stop with how the demand is worldwide. I think that the focus should be on responsible sourcing, breeding and awareness of how to care for them correctly and safely.

Thank you for covering this, I&#39;m so sick of seeing videos of wild animals being held captive by morons for &quot;content&quot;. Especially since they&#39;re put out under the guise of being &quot;funny&quot; or &quot;cute&quot;, there&#39;s nothing funny or cute about animal abuse. If people in your life send you this garbage you need to inform them so these people stop making money.