SerpApi.Org
Caimans and pumas are among 2,200 dangerous animals being kept as pets in Britain, according to research by wildlife charity Born Free.
The charity, which is calling for an overhaul of the 50-year-old law that regulates such pets, said hundreds of animals, including venomous snakes, tigers and monkeys, were being legally kept in homes and other private settings.
Some of the animals licensed to be kept under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act (DWAA) are in educational facilities, sanctuaries or even part of conservation projects – such as bison in large-scale enclosures in woodlands and countryside.
But many people are believed to be keeping dangerous, non-native creatures in private homes, Born Free said, potentially posing a risk to public safety and causing suffering to the animals.
Dame Joanna Lumley, Born Free’s founder patron, called for a change in the law, saying: “Wild animals should never ever be kept as pets, no matter how much we feel we could give them a wonderful home. Their lives should be in the wild.”
Born Free also believes many more dangerous wild animals could be being held illegally.
The Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in 1976 to control the private keeping of animals considered to pose a risk to the public.
Data obtained from local authorities, which are responsible for licences under the act, show more than 500 venomous snakes are being kept privately across Britain.
There are also nearly 300 primates in private ownership, 79 crocodiles, alligators and caimans, and 166 wild cats including lions, pumas and tigers.
Among the animals being privately kept are alligators and Gila monsters in Angus and cheetahs in Cheshire, while snakes including cobras, green mambas, rattlesnakes and boomslangs are being held around the country.
Born Free has released a searchable database so people can see what animals have been licensed to be kept under the act in their area.
The number of venomous snakes has risen since the charity last researched DWAA data in 2023, up from 403 then to 512, while the number of dangerous primates is up from 256 in 2023 to 293 now.
The charity’s research found Scotland is home to the most licensed wild cat hybrids in Britain, while Carmarthenshire in Wales is home to the only elephant being kept under this kind of licence in the country. The snake believed to kill more people than any other in the world – the saw-scaled viper – is licensed to be kept in Greater London.
Born Free said that DWAA licences did not mean animals were being kept in appropriate conditions, and the law needed to be reviewed and reformed to protect people and wild animals.
More snakes in homes than in zoos
Chris Lewis, Born Free’s captivity research and policy manager, said: “The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 was intended to make the keeping of wild animals categorised as ‘dangerous’ a wholly exceptional circumstance.
“Yet 50 years on we find ourselves in a situation where nearly 10 times more venomous snakes are kept in British homes than British zoos, servals continue to be unnecessarily and cruelly crossbred with domestic cats to produce ‘fashionable’ hybrids, and primates continue to be confined, despite the government acknowledging they are unsuited to being kept as pets.
“These animals are still wild, still dangerous, yet still legal to keep.
“The Government must urgently review and reform the laws governing the trade in, and keeping of, wild animals as pets.”
Born Free wants ministers to reform the laws in England and Wales, introducing evidence-based measures to prevent harm, close loopholes, strengthen enforcement and meet UK commitments to animal welfare, biosecurity, conservation and public health.
A spokesman for the Environment Department (Defra) said: “Anyone wishing to keep an animal covered by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act must be carefully vetted and apply for a licence which sets out strict conditions under which the animals must be kept.”
Defra said a local authority may only grant a licence under the act if it would not be contrary to the public interest on safety or nuisance grounds, and the animal’s accommodation is suitable, clean and secure.
