I have always wanted a tiger. Ever since I read Winnie the Poo featuring that friendly old fellow Tigger and ever since I watched Disney’s The Jungle Book starring the dastardly Shere Khan, I knew I had to have one for my very own. A majestic, powerful and handsome creature. Just like me! I thought I’d name him Black Stripe, which sounded suitably cool.
Until Bespoke asked me to get on the case and seek out where I could buy exotic animals for this story, I’d almost forgotten my childhood wish. But now I had an excuse. How could I get a tiger of my own? Or a monkey? Or a bat? Well, maybe not a bat. More to the point, is it even legal and how much does it cost?
Of course any endangered animal species are bound to be quite pricey and probably not the best idea for a pet but they are becoming must-have luxury items in some quarters. Think pop sensation Michael ‘Wacko Jacko’ Jackson and his monkey, Bubbles. I hear from an informed source that he has some interesting specimens already roaming about his villa in Bahrain.
Another friend in Riyadh informed me that he himself had bought a pet leopard from a dealer there recently. He said he often looked to buy exotic cats and it was quite legal in Saudi Arabia if arranged through the right channels, though he refused to elaborate. The legal question seems to vary from country to country. Obviously, the UK being the UK, I was going to have an impossible time in London.
So where to start in my search for Black Stripe and other speciality pets? First, the zoos. Even wild animal zoos, of which there are many in the US, Canada and Australia (though less in Europe), don’t find it too hard to acquire their animals today. A spokesman from ZSL – the Zoological Society of London – explained that there are Internet sites, trade magazines and even lots of people who breed exotic animals in their houses though these are not recommended channels. ZSL, which owns the London and Whipsnade Zoos in the UK, works with conservation programmes in many of the animals’ natural habitats and breeding programmes with the regard to the creatures it houses in its parks. Internet sites and trade magazines, which are really the other medium for ensnaring such animals, often operate with no questions asked. Black Stripe, I know I’m going to find you!
Before you go online, it must be noted that buying an exotic animal is not really recommended if you are not a dedicated animal-lover with various permits and licenses and the ability to take care of wild and potentially extremely dangerous creatures. If you have the money, what in the end is a high-end luxury pet, can be bought – they are often marketed as the perfect birthday present for children, or even a classy addition to the image-conscious suburban home. But remember that just because no questions are asked and the price is high, this is often an illegal trade and many animals including gorillas, tigers and chimps have international bans placed on their sale.
You can buy legally but you are breaking the law if you don’t have the correct permits to own the animal. Then of course, you need insurance, a guaranteed on-call-at-all-times vet with experience of wild animals, plenty of cash for animal food, and space if they are big and need to roam around. None of which is easily arranged criteria – unless you live on a ranch in the plains of Nebraska. Legally, the channels to go through are zoological societies and international conservation groups, but it is not easy to acquire the right permissions. In fact for me it was pretty impossible, despite my best efforts to impress and look wealthy and serious in my bespoke suit. “Are you a wildlife expert,” I was asked by a very stern lady at a conservation programme outside Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo when I enquired about the possibility of purchasing a Bonobo monkey. (Bonobos are the legendary chimps that are closest to our dear human selves in behaviour and are famed for their unquenchable appetite for all types of sexual activities). I told her “Um… No.” And that was as far as I got. Without years of experience and rather pricey licenses a Bonobo, let alone Black Stripe himself, would not be sharing evening walks with me.
It’s relatively easy it seems to buy without papers. On various different websites I have found all the animals I could want from reptiles to mammals to weird insects at different prices – some affordable, some not. On HYPERLINK "http://www.ad-mart.co.uk" www.ad-mart.co.uk, for example, there was a pair of breeding cotton-headed Tamarin monkeys on sale for 3,750 USD. There were also Capuchins, Meercats, and turtles available. Still, I was having trouble finding my Black Stripe. At gotpetsonline.com there was a giraffe for sale. It’s true. This one cost 15,000 USD. There was also a baby Canadian Lynx going for 1,300 USD and I even found a gorilla on another site for 8,882 USD. But no tiger.
In fact, in the end my dream of finding Black Stripe was impossible to realise. There were plenty of other cats available, mainly in the USA. A Bobcat was priced at a 500 USD and the mid-sized cats like Servals and Caracals ranged from 1,000 USD to 2,200 USD. An Ocelot I located was going for 15,000 USD.
Still no tiger. Also, the rarer the animal the more expensive it is. But then I read that any big cat you buy will begin to spray bucket loads of urine all over everything to mark their territory – including their owners – once you get them home. I guess I’ll adopt one in Africa instead.
