A new survey shows that nearly 4,000 dangerous wild animals are being privately kept in Great Britain, under licence.
These wild animals include 274 primates, 61 big cats and even two elephants.
Research by Born Free reviewed the number of Dangerous Wild Animal (DWA) Act licences granted by local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales, and the variety of species being privately kept.
In the south west, Cornwall is the county that records the largest number of animals being kept in captivity at 140.
Of these 140 wild animals kept in captivity, the majority are cats, notably six clouded leopard, six cheetah, two leopards, two puma, two snow leopards, seven lnyx, five fossa, one ocelot, two fishing cats, 13 serval and two jaguarundi.
There are 10 Saki monkeys in captivity and even two pygmy hippo.
Wiltshire has the second largest number of wild animals in captivity.
There are 60 bison and 17 boar but there are also five leopard cats, one Bengal cat, seven lemur and six vipers and cobras.
In Devon there are just a handful of wild animals registered which are 14 scorpions, four ostrich, four ring-tailed lemur, two serval, two tayra, one Savannah cat and one boar.
Somerset records 54 boar while Dorset has only two spectacled Caiman.
Born Free's data shows that in 2020 a total of 210 DWA licences were granted for the keeping of 3,951 individual wild animals, including 320 wild cats (including 61 big cats – 11 lions, eight tigers, 11 leopards, 18 pumas, 10 cheetahs, two ligers and one jaguar) and 274 primates (including more than 150 lemurs).
Dr Mark Jones, vet and Born Free’s head of policy, said: “Born Free has been collating and analysing DWA data for over 20 years.
"Since the millennium, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of exotic pets in private ownership, including a 94 per cent increase in the number of venomous snakes, 57 per cent increase in wild cats, 198 per cent increase in crocodilians and over a 2,000 per cent increase in scorpions.
"However, these figures are likely to represent only the tip of the iceberg. They only record those animals being kept and registered with a DWA licence.
"Born Free believes that many additional dangerous wild animals are being kept without a licence.”
Currently, under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, anyone in Britain can keep a dangerous wild animal as long as they obtain a licence from their local authority.
The licensing process requires the applicant to demonstrate that their animals are properly contained to prevent escape and protect the public, but this does little to ensure the welfare of the animals or the protection of the owner or anyone else visiting the property.
Dr Jones said: “It is unbelievable that, in this day and age, so many dangerous animals, including big cats, large primates, crocodiles and venomous snakes, are in private ownership in the UK.
"Increasing demand for all kinds of wild animals as exotic pets puts owners and the wider public at risk of injury or disease.
"It also results in serious animal suffering, and the demand increases the pressure on many wild populations which are often already under threat.”
Born Free is calling for the UK government to undertake a comprehensive review of the current dangerous wild animal legislation and has launched a petition (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/581252) with RSPCA asking for law reform.
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