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It’s a Jungle out there!
By Arthur Martin
Big Cats in Britain
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It’s a Jungle out there!
By Arthur Martin
Daily Mail: 27th December 2006
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76 big cats, 300 bison, 250 snakes and 2,000 ostriches … the amazing menagerie of private pets in the UK.
When people decide they want a pet, they are usually satisfied with a cat, a dog or a budgie.
But an increasing number of owners are shunning traditional animals in favour of more exotic wildlife.
Research shows that 12 lions, 14 tigers and 50 leopards are being kept as pets in Britain.
Dozens more non-domestic cats such as servals are owned privately, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The wildlife group Big Cats in Britain discovered that almost 500 monkeys and 2,000 ostriches are kept as pets, plus more than 250 poisonous snakes and 50 members of the crocodile family.
There are also more then 300 bison grazing in our countryside, and more than 6,000 wild boar. The figures do not include zoo animals.
“Owning a big cat or another exotic animal is becoming increasingly popular,” said Mark Fraser, founder of BCIB.
“The owners do not need to be trained in how to handle their pet, so they have to get used to handling powerful big cats through trail and error.
“However to my knowledge there have been no accidents involving licensed pet owners and their big cats.”
Under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, private owners of all animals that are legally deemed to be dangerous are required to buy an annual licence from their local authority. The authority inspects the owners premises and confirms they carry third party liability insurance for the animal.
BCIB obtained its figures by asking 408 local authorities how many wild animals were being kept by licensed private keepers.
The group is aware that some big cats are also owned illegally, and are sometimes let out into the wild to be used for hunting.
Mr Fraser said: “We have no idea how many are out there in the wild, but it is certainly not as many as people think.
“Every day we get calls from people who think they have seen a big cat. They take pictures of them and often what they have seen is actually a domestic cat.
“It is not the responsible legal owners that ‘lose’ their animals, but those that keep animals illegally with little thought to their welfare.
“More and more exotic animals are being seen in the British countryside today, making it an interesting place to be.”
The group believes that some smaller cats such as servals and leopard cats are being kept to hybridise with domestic cats to produce ‘designer pets.’
Earlier this year an animal lover applied for permission to keep two Asian leopard cats and two African servals in her back garden.
Natalie Cox, 27, has already built enclosures at her home in Clydebank, near Glasgow. West Dunbartonshire council bosses deferred their decision so that Mrs Cox could draw up an emergency plan in case the cats should escape.
Mrs Cox, who has a holiday home in Florida where she got the idea, said: “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. They are very docile and are commonly kept as pets in the US.
Do you have any information on the above reports. Were you the person
involved, or are you aware of any more sightings in this area. We would appreciate any information that you could
give us.
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