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1. Openness to experience
For some exotic pet enthusiasts, taking care of a dog or cat is simply not challenging enough. They enjoy the journey and challenge of owning an exotic animal. This also gives them the added opportunity to observe unique animal behaviors. Owning an exotic pet allows owners to gain new learning experience and a sense of accomplishment.
It is possible that the greed factor plays a part too since these owners may have already experienced keeping conventional pets. This may result in them looking for another kind of pet to entice them for their interest and enjoyment (The attributes here are similar to the characteristics of post-materialistic values)
2. Source of income for breeders and traders
There is a surging demand for captive wildlife and exotic pets do not come for cheap. They can be fetched for a high price in the black market and it can be a lucrative trade. Exotic pets can provide economic gain and employment in the black market.
In one article, a Singapore dealer said that he sold a tiger for $40,000 and a clouded leopard for $12,000.
3. Exotic pets can be domesticated too
Theory behind domestication
- In order for an animal to be domesticated, several key factors need to be fulfilled. There needs to be a dominant hierarchy structure and the animal has to display the following characteristics – readily submits to the human, can be easily tamed, able to restrain its aggressiveness, and able to live without stress around humans. When the tamed animal comes to the point where they depend on humans and the environment which people live in, that is when the animal becomes truly domesticated.
Evolutionary history
- In order to understand why humans are convinced that exotic animals can be tamed, we need to dive into our evolutionary history. One prime example of successful domestication would be wolves. Dogs are believed to be domesticated from their wolves ancestors thousands of years ago. Today, dogs and humans have forged a mutually beneficial relationship with our lineages inextricably entwined. Therefore, some people believe that they have a chance to domesticate exotic pets if they are hand-reared from birth. They believe that if a wild animal only grows up with human care, they will not experience their natural instincts and be tamed. However, even if the wild animal loses their ability to survive in the wild, there is a possibility for them to maintain their natural instincts to hunt, run and be wild. Ergo, domestication will only be a successful process after generations of selective breeding.
4. Prestige factor
Some exotic pet owners may claim that their love and attachment to animals are the reasons why they keep them. However, this reason seems to be superficial. We need to look deeper into the underlying reason for their actions. In order to find out more, we need to look at who are the majority of exotic pet owners. They are mainly the rich owns them, since having these pets are expensive. However, it is not limited to the rich as there are reports of Singaporeans, for example university students, possessing such animals. Owning exotic pets may be fueled by the prestige factor. They may express the desire to be different which motivates them to own something rare and unique. Here is a case article in Singapore of an exotic bearded dragon pet.
5. Cultural reasons
Bird keeping is a part of Indonesia’s national culture. Indonesians have a centuries-long tradition of keeping these birds in cages. This is especially the case for songbirds, where their popularity in Indonesia became more notable over the past 20 to 30 years. The primary reason for their rise in popularity is because of singing contests conducted by hobbyists where they judge and rate the bird songs. The demand for the songbirds in Indonesia is so high, that smugglers ship them to Indonesia from as far away as Vietnam.
