By: Kai Wang

Every year hundreds of thousands of exotic animals are sold around the globe, to become someone’s pet. This business is known as the exotic pet trade. Exotic pets don’t have a proper definition but usually refers to wild animals, including large cats, amphibians, primates, and reptiles. Exotic pets are often not native to the area.While some exotic pets are bred in captivity, countless others are taken from the wild before being sold. After being taken the animal might be used in a breeding operation, sold nearby, smuggled out of the country, or even intentionally mislabeled as a captive-bred animal and transported.

Why are Exotic Animals so Popular?

The demand for these unique creatures has increased in recent years. Between 1994-2012, owning amphibians and reptiles jumped from 2.4 million to 5.6 million Much of this jump is because of social media websites, which have created a way to effortlessly advertise the sale of these creatures. Another reason they are so popular is because people think that these exotic animals are status symbols. Animals have been used to show peoples wealth and power. Some help owners get followers on social media websites.

Should it be illegal?

Poaching for exotic pet trade kills animal populations worldwide. It is the largest While some exotic pets are bred in captivity, countless others are taken from the wild before being sold.

After being taken the animal might be used in a breeding operation, sold nearby, smuggled out of the country, or even intentionally mislabeled as a captive-bred animal and transported.

These animals being kept as pets but some of their body parts are used as meat, jewelry, trophies, or even medicine. And this is still growing. This trade is even affecting humans by spreading diseases like Salmonella. Not only is it affecting us, but it is affecting our ecosystems. For example, breeding birds in Florida Everglades have been declining in population since non-native or “invasive” pythons were released by irresponsible owners.

The invasive pythons thrived in Florida’s tropical climate, reproduced, and got prey, that had no defenses against the pythons. Lastly doing this is cruel to the animals themselves. Some zoos even put animals in horrible living conditions and sell them to private buyers in the illegal wildlife trade. ”I’ve seen so many selfies and so many chimps that have been taught to [smile] to make people think they’re happy … that’s actually a fear grimace,” Ms. Bending said. “[It may look] romantic and lovely and cute and cuddly — but it’s big business.” Zara bending, an expert on the exotic animal trade at the Centre for Environmental Law. 3