[imagesource:here]

A Boksburg crèche owner recently found that the neighbours were keeping two massive white tigers as pets.

She tried to get help from wildlife organisations and the local councillor, but to no avail, as technically, her neighbours weren’t actually doing anything wrong.

The find gave her first-hand experience with the poor by-laws in Gauteng, creating a legal grey area in which Johannesburg residents can easily keep exotic pets.

It’s estimated that there are currently 1 500 tigers kept in captivity in South Africa, while there are fewer than 4 000 left in the wild.

Folks in Jozi aren’t just keeping tigers, though.

They’re keeping a zoo’s worth of exotic wildlife, from leopards to chimps and gorillas, as well as Fennec foxes and reptiles.

IOL has a list of all the exotic animals you might encounter while driving through the Jozi streets.

It might seem like a fun idea to have a weird and wonderful pet. You might even believe that you are helping them by providing a safe place and some food.

But wildlife experts strongly condemn the practice of keeping exotic wildlife as pets, even though the Gauteng by-laws allow it.

Environmentalists and animal rights experts are alarmed at the number of exotic pets that Gauteng residents are keeping, especially in the East Rand and Johannesburg, which they liken to a massive urban zoo.

They blame the lack of laws and uniformity in legislation governing wildlife pet ownership, especially of exotic animals.

Via TimesLIVE, SA Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre CEO Judy Davidson has noted how there’s been an increase in the admittance of exotic wildlife, especially at the Springs-based NPO:

“What happens with any wild animal is that when they reach maturity they become a problem, and then they are dropped at our gate or we are called to say, ‘We can’t keep such and such. We’ve had it for four years but it is biting the children’. It happens without fail,” she said.

Check out this video for more:

[source:timeslive]