Wild & Dangerous: The World of Exotic Pets


Genre: Animals, Pets & Vets


Duration: 1 x 60’


Year of Production: 2015


Production Company: Dream Street Pictures


Commissioned By: CBC Canada


Definition: HD


Wild & Dangerous peers into the relationships between people and their exotic pets and examines the issues that come with keeping undomesticated animals. Can we transform any wild creature from any environment into a companion just by bringing it home and giving it a name? Do we have the right to own wild animals as property? Can exotic animals adapt to new environments and live enriched lives in captivity? Meet Denise and her giant Tegu lizard Roscoe, Yasmin and her estranged monkey Darwin and Zuzana and Scott with their pet lion Bam-Bam. Their personal stories reveal the immediate dangers, public safety concerns and the cost of keeping exotic animals. Their situations point to an illicit exotic pet trade that thrives amidst a patchwork of loose, conflicting laws across North America that are now under scrutiny in the wake of recent high profile cases of escaped pets.