Forget cats and dogs, experts reveal deer, llama, wallabies and civets can be good human companions

Exotic-animals-turned-pets acting adorably as they live alongside humans – but just because you want one doesn’t mean they are well suited for life in your home.

To address the growing demand for exotic pets, a team of veterinary experts has developed a method to assess the suitability of mammals for domestic life.

The researchers have so far analyzed nearly 100 species, revealing the top five animals for human companionship, including llamas and two types of wallaby.

According to the researchers, the sika deer, agile wallaby, tamar wallaby, llama, and Asian palm civet are all suitable as pets.

To determine this, the team first conducted an online survey to find out which animals are most commonly kept as pets.

Then, they selected the 90 most popular species, removing ‘production animals’ – including rabbits, guinea pics, and hamsters – as these are allowed to be kept by anyone.

The researchers then collected bibliographic information on these animals both in the wild and in captivity, from literature on behavioural ecology, health, welfare, and human-animal relationships.

With this information, they created one-line criteria statements for each, assigning a score for behavioural needs and welfare risks.

The main influence of this work is methodological,’ said Dr. Paul Koene, who led the study.

 Three teams were involved in ranking the ‘pet suitability’ of each animal, and those with high behavioural needs or concerns for health, welfare, and human relationship were assigned higher risk scores.

Moving forward, they’re looking to extend this ranking system to include hundreds more animals.

‘A team is now completing the full list, analyzing the other 270 mammals,’ Dr. Koene explained.

 ‘They are also looking at how to determine the suitability of birds and reptiles in future. So, the impact of the study is that there is a framework and shared database that could be further developed in a more widely used context.

While wallabies or Asian palm civets may make good pets, the researchers say exotic animals aren’t likely to overtake dogs and cats in popularity anytime soon.

‘Dogs and cats are a special kind of pets,’ Dr Koene said, ‘because of their way of housing (free roaming), of variation in breeds, the vast amount of literature and of the delicacy of the subject and so were not analyzed, and wallabies will certainly not replace them.’

Source: Daily mail

N.H.Kh