Wild animals such as monkeys, snakes and other reptiles are becoming alarmingly popular pets in British households, resulting in thousands being abandoned because they are too difficult to look after.
The RSPCA rescued around 5,000 exotic pets over the past year, including a monkey who was regularly taken to the pub on a lead by its owner, another from a drug den and a 6ft snake from the engine of a van.
There are an estimated 700,000 reptiles being kept as pets with an overall trade in exotic pets booming across the country, the charity estimates.
People show off their exotic pets and the popularity of having wild animals in a BBC documentary. Pictured is Caesar, a 6ft long crocodile, who has lived in the conservatory of Chris Weller’s Kent home for the past 13 years. It comes as the RSPCA has revealed they rescued around 5,000 exotic pets over the past year
Social media has emerged as the primary marketplace for the buying and selling of the animals, with Marmoset monkeys amongst the most popular exotic pets.
The breed is native to Brazil, but Marmosets are now being bred in Britain and can cost anything up to £1,500. But many are kept by ignorant owners in cramped conditions and rarely let out, causing them severe medical problems.
Dr Alison Cronin, from Monkey World in Dorset, which has rescued 60 of the primates from around the UK over the past year, tells BBC Inside Out London: ‘I’m finding them in every form of bizarre, crazy circumstance that you can think of, whether it’s in people’s homes, sitting rooms and outdoor sheds.’
Snakes (pictured, file image) and other wild animals are found ‘in every form of bizarre, crazy circumstance that you can think of, whether it’s in people’s homes, sitting rooms and outdoor sheds’, says Dr Alison Cronin, from Monkey World. A 6ft snake from the engine of a van was among the RSPCA’s finds last year
She adds: ‘The biggest problem we see with Marmosets is metabolic bone disease and rickets. They need sunlight, which they would normally get from being out in the wild. But if people keep a monkey in the house, they are not getting any of this.’
Dr Ros Clubb, RSPCA Senior Scientific Manager said: ‘We did have a case where there was the owner of a Marmoset who was taking his monkey to the local pub on a lead and had been doing that fairly regularly, apparently, before he was reported to us.
Marmoset monkeys (file image), which are native to Brazil, are being bred in the UK and cost more than £1k. But many are kept by ignorant owners in cramped conditions and rarely let out
‘Obviously, that’s completely inappropriate for a wild animal like a Marmoset so we did manage to take action on that.’
One of the main reasons for the spike in the popularity of Marmosets and other primates is because UK law allows them to be kept without any background checks or license, unlike owners of snakes and other dangerous reptiles, who have to obtain a special permit from their local authority.
There is currently a government consultation on the welfare of primates with campaigners calling for a total ban on the sale of Marmosets and other primates.
The popularity of Marmosets and other primates (pictured, file image of a crocodile in Indonesia) is because UK law allows them to be kept without any background checks or license
One of the UK’s most unusual exotic pets is Caesar, a 6ft long crocodile, who has lived in the conservatory of Chris Weller’s Kent home for the past 13 years.
Mr Weller reveals the close bond he shares with his unusual pet.
He said: ‘To some extent you can pat him and stroke him. Initially that was not possible. When he came as a baby any one like me was a predator to him. They might be trying to eat him because he was only about six, seven inches big.
‘But as he has grown and suddenly realised this bloke feeds you, he’s taken on a new position. I’ve never had an attempt for him to bite me for a number of years now.’
Mr Weller also owns a Bearded dragon, two Iguanas, three parrots, a cockatoo and six terrapins.