WILD ANIMALS THAT ARE LEGAL TO KEEP AS PETS BUT SHOULDN'T BE

SERVALS

If you’re familiar with zoology or wild animals you may have

heard of the serval cat. They look similar to a leopard and

are really wild. Servals can be affectionate at times and are

not normally aggressive toward humans, but remember

that this is still a wild animal, which means that it has

basic, inherent instincts it needs to fulfil.

CHIMPANZEES

Chimpanzees, which possess incredible strength, are considered

some of the most dangerous pets. Chimps have very

complex cognition and it can be difficult or impossible to

know what’s going on in their minds or how they’ll react

to new situations.

PYTHONS

Pythons are the most widely owned snakes in North America.

Though they don’t usually consider a human being as food,

there have been many cases in which pythons killed humans

(usually children). The most recent tragedy occurred in

New Brunswick, Canada on August 5, 2013. An African

rock python killed two brothers, ages four and six, who were

visiting their friend, whose father owned a pet shop below

the apartment where they were staying.

BOBCATS

It’s true that you can legally domesticate a bobcat, although I

am not quite sure who would really want to do so. Bobcats

might be extremely beautiful, but at the same time they are as

wild as it gets and even though you won’t be in danger of

being eaten alive, they can severely hurt you during a

game or confrontation.

ALLIGATORS

Do we really need to explain why it’s a bad idea to keep one

as a pet? Weighing as much as 1000 lbs and sporting one

of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, the alligator

is a wild animal that can eat just about anything, including

humans (though to be fair, we are not regularly part of

their diet…thank goodness).

WOLVES

Wolves are sometimes kept as pets, and on rare occasions,

as working animals. Although closely related to

domesticated dogs, wolves do not show the same loyalty

or “friendliness” and are significantly harder to train.

If they get too hungry they might attack you, because

it’s what wolves normally do.

TIGERS

Can you legally own a tiger? Even if your name isn’t Mike Tyson?

Well, yes, but other than being extremely dangerous it’s also

extremely expensive to own. Not to mention that wild tiger

numbers have dropped to a record low.

ELEPHANTS

To own an elephant as a pet you need to have access to A LOT

of land. Elephants need space to roam and tons of food

(they can put away anywhere between 200 – 600lbs of food

per day!). Also being such a large animal, they can be a huge

problem if they were to get spooked or agitated in some way.

In fact, according to the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF),

up to 300 people are killed annually by human-elephant conflicts.