People conventionally opt for pets like cats and dogs, who by far remain most commonly rescued and adopted. Not all animals can be tamed as pets. However, that doesn't stop people from keeping exotic species from the kingdom. REXANO (Responsible Exotic Animal Ownership), promotes the right to keep unusual pets, advocating that these exotic animals, when domesticated properly, ensure appropriate captive breeding. Connecting with less commonly domesticated animals provides virgin experiences through sharing these unfamiliar spaces and expressions while adequately nurturing their nature, diet, and medical needs. However, many countries have mandated strict restrictions on keeping wild animals as pets, animal conservationists and activists believe that these animals should be left untamed, as they deserve to stay in their natural habitats, isolation from which can disrupt the balance of an ecosystem. Let's talk about some of these interesting stories that have happened over the years.
A Russian couple, Svetlana and Yuri Panteleenko, adopted a 3-month-old bear, abandoned by its mother in a pitiable condition. The couple domesticated and raised the grizzly brown bear and named him Stepan. He is twenty-eight years old, in 2021, and weighs approximately one-third of a tonne. His regular diet includes twenty-five kilos of fish, vegetables, eggs, and fruits daily. Stepan is like a member of the Panteleenko family and loves to play football, watch television, celebrate festivals, and water plants. Stepan is a socially active animal who also enjoys photoshoots. He is famous as the modeling bear across the internet. His non-aggressive behavior attracts fashion models for photoshoots. Brown Russian bears are one of the deadliest and largest carnivores. Yet, Stepans' calm and tame behavior won him roles in many movies, like TSAR, VORONIN, Fir Trees 4, etc. The Panteleenko family organizes his appointments and uses the earnings for the care of Stepan and the family. He works a maximum of one and a half hours per day, as sometimes brown bears get moody and intolerant towards changing circumstances and human encounters that can enrage them. Stepan was raised by the Panteleenko’s. Many people admire his sociability. However, according to animal rights activists, his owners exploit him for the Instagram generation and deprive him of his instincts. Due to frequent criticism and judgment, Stepan was shifted to Losiny Ostrov Biological Reserve, one of the largest wildlife reserves in Russia. Now, Stepan enjoys his freedom and is often looked after by his owners.
A family with a gigantic rodent, a capybara, lived deep in the heart of Texas. Melanie Typaldos was on holiday in Venezuela with her family when they came across capybaras and fell in love with them right away. Melanie's daughter persuaded her to adopt one once they returned to the United States. After doing some research and speaking with breeders, Typaldos found a newborn capybara and brought him to Austin in the fall of 2007. She named the capybara Caplin Rous “rous,” which means “rodent of remarkable stature.” Initially, people used to get panicked on witnessing the gigantic mouse, but later they admired his calm temperament. He was a rodent with extraordinary talents, who could walk nicely on a leash and could even perform tricks. When Caplin shook hands with humans, they were often surprised by his intelligence. Caplin also swam with grace, resembling an otter. Typaldo’s neighbors frequently remarked that he was smarter than their pets. Melanie, a biology major, lives in a climate that is suitable for tropical pets. Melanie, in her blog, writes about the difficulties she faced while parenting the capybaras. When people ask her where they could get one, she recommends that they read her blog, including Caplin biting her. According to her, he was quite friendly and would go out with her. She'd take him out for lunch, to Half-Price Books, and to Home Depot. Typaldos' admired his mellifluous voice and was amazed when she heard him speak. Caplin soon became a celebrity because of its huge size and admirable features. In 2010, Typaldos published “Celeste and the Giant Hamster,” a children's book that recounts the adventures of a capybara like Caplin Rous, a particularly unusual pet.
Jessica, a South African hippo, was born premature and was found in a weak state with her umbilical cord still attached. In 2000, Tony and Shirley Joubert saved Jessica along the banks of the river Blyde after a flood separated her from her mother. Tony and Shirley Joubert took her home and helped her heal. Since her rescue, Jessica has grown from strength to strength, and she sees herself as a member of the Joubert family. Tony and Shirley didn't hold Jessica in captivity, so she had the liberty of roaming around freely. Jessica prefers companionship more than being alone because she craves love and attention. She likes to spend time with other hippos in the river and gets to see visitors who come to meet Jessica for a small fee. Joubert gives a tour of their house to the visitors with proper safety measures. Since humans rescued Jessica, she is highly generous towards them. Jessica has become a celebrity and was also featured on many television and radio shows. Jessica's story became one of compassion, where the resoluteness to save an animal turned out positive for both the animal and her caretakers. Their decision to adopt Jessica enabled visitors to experience peaceful encounters. Jessica serves as an ambassador for her species. Her unique story makes the relationship between animal and human work through a process called imprinting, which means that the animal builds a forceful bond with the first living thing it sees.
John Boyko, a forty-two-year-old electrical contractor, became famous in New York City for rearing three alligators as his pets. The New York Times covered this story in 2003. It may seem uncommon to choose an alligator as a pet, but Boyko found it interesting, and hence in 1994 bought two alligators, Gertrude and Allie, out of curiosity. They also adopted a third gator from a veterinarian and named it Walley. People nicknamed Boyko “Gator Guy” because he had gators but no kids. The menageries spent their winters at Boyko's home in Bridgeport and summers at his mother's place in Shelton. The gators loved riding in Boyko’s convertible the cities, but sometimes became clamored for the front seat. However, people weren't so comfortable with the gators living in the city. Consequently, Bridgeport police raided Mr. Boyko's home after getting complaints from the neighbors. They confiscated the three gators and put them in the city zoo. Later, Boyko spent thousands of dollars in legal fees in trying to get them back. The Department of Environmental Protection rejected his request to keep the three alligators as pets and concluded that they could be a potential threat to other citizens. The local authorities gave him an option to either ship the gators to another state or donate them legally to the Beardsley Zoo. It was during this time that fortunately Betsy Gimbel, a pet lover, helped Boyko to keep his alligators on her property in Pennsylvania, where the laws allowed non-native menageries. Hence, Boyko relocated his gators to Pennsylvania. He drove there from Bridgeport once a week to look after the gators. Later, Gregg Dancho, the zoo director, appreciated Boyko for providing the gators a better home than the zoo. When Gimbel died in 2005, Boyko again struggled to shift the gators to another safe place. Boyko finally bought a home in East Stroudsburg, Poconos, for his reptilian pets. He set up the backyard with a 2,000-gallon tank for them, surrounded by a 6-foot tall stockyard fence. Later, he managed their expenses by having the gators appear in movies. Afterward, Boyko proudly acquired 11 gators, as some of them were either rescued or adopted. Boyko, as a father figure, continued to look after them as if they were his children.
Ronald Huff, a forty-two-year-old soldier lived in Newark, Delaware. Huff was a passionate animal lover and had been fond of reptiles since childhood. During his visit to Africa, he came to know about Africa's longest lizard, the Nile lizard. He had always wanted to keep an exotic animal as a pet. The lizards cannot be acquired without a permit from the State Department of Animals. Since Huff was a soldier, he somehow managed to get the permit to keep a Nile monitor lizard as his pet. In 2001, Huff brought a Nile monitor lizard and named it Rex. Rex was 6 feet (1.83 m) long and weighed 25 pounds, had sharp teeth and jaws, and a muscular tail. Huff made Rex a big and elongated cell, but he usually unleashed the pet and allowed it to wander freely all over his house. Huff used to play and roam around his garden with Rex every day, and the neighbors and relatives knew about it. One of his neighbors, Maria, got skeptical when she noticed Ronald’s absence for a week. Out of suspicion, she called the police, and the cops arrived at Huff's house. They could hear a squeaking sound from inside the house. When the cops finally entered the house, they discovered Mr. Huff's body was half-eaten by the monitor lizard, and it was still feeding on his flesh. The lizard ate most of his body parts, including his legs, hands, and partially cleaved his neck. The cops recovered Huff's body and caged the lizard. To date, whenever the cops recall the incident, they get goosebumps because they had never witnessed such a terrifying incident in their lives.
A lion mother rejected her newborn cub at the Ilfracombe Zoo in Devon, UK. The zoo authorities sold the cub to Harrods department store in London to be used for publicity on Christmas Eve. Ace Bourse and John Rendall, two young travelers, bought the cub from the store and named it Christian. The cub lived with them in Chelsea, London. The cub adapted very well because of its sociable nature. Ace and John created a stable environment for Christian, by providing him the right food and a large basement to live in below the furniture shop where they worked. They looked after it as their child and every afternoon, they used to take Christian to a nearby garden for recreation. Christian grew up quickly, and within months he outgrew his environment. This concerned John and Ace, as the customers started getting scared of the growing lion, and they didn't have another space to move him. One day, Bill Travers, a film actor, came to the shop and found Christian to be charismatic. Hearing about the problems John and Ace were facing, Bill suggested that they contact a Kenyan wildlife conservationist who could rehabilitate Christian to a natural environment. When Christian arrived in Kenya, he faced many challenges, including a hostile environment and the presence of wild lions. He gradually overcame the obstacles thanks to his adaptive nature. A year later, when Ace and John came to meet Christian, he was strong and fully grown. YouTube featured their memorable reunion that got 100 million views. Their extraordinary story influences people to think deeply about the environment, wildlife issues, and animal welfare.
Jaren Hare was a fourteen-year-old girl who lived in Florida with her parents. She was fascinated to see a small albino Burmese python in the flea market and decided to buy a corn-colored one with her pocket money. She named it Gypsy. Gypsy grew out to be an eight-foot-long snake. After a few years, Jaren was married and she had a baby named Shaiunna. Jaren had immense love for Gypsy. However, things started to get wrong when Jaren began ignoring it. The python used to stay in a terrarium covered by a cloth hooked by a safety pin. Jaren forgot to feed the python for days. Gypsy tried to get out of the tank several times to search for food. One night, the snake glided out of the tank and attacked her 2-years-old baby, Shaiunna. The python bit its face, hands, abdomen and strangled the baby to death. It was reported that Jaren was addicted to drugs and was soporific most of the time. Therefore, we saw how a baby lost its life because of the owner’s negligence. Hence, one should be cautious before petting dangerous exotic animals as the owner's behavior towards the pet plays a crucial role in understanding their needs.