Welfare of exotic pets - evidence: scoping review
Scoping review conducted by Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) on the evidence of the welfare of exotic pets in Scotland.
Methods
The literature search used the search engine “Web of Science”. Each search string included the common and scientific name(s) of the selected species (see table 1), plus the terms “‘behaviour; transport; captivity; infectious disease; husbandry; welfare; mortality; nutrition; nutritional disease; metabolic bone disease; trauma’. Additional search terms added after a preliminary search were “self-injury, self-trauma, aggression, destructive, vocal*, pain, lethargy, stereotypy, pacing*, distress, fur chewing*, grooming and feather pecking*” (*included where relevant to the species).
When search results for “behaviour OR behavior” returned a large body of work relating to wild animals in their natural habitat, or were used as experimental models, the terms “AND captive OR pet” were added as modifiers. The term “transport” was ambiguous and often returned studies of physiological processes (e.g., ion transport), whereas studies of welfare in transport mostly used the term “transport stress”. Therefore, to refine these results, the search line “(transport OR relocation) AND (stress OR welfare)” was included.
The journals: “Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine, Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery, Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice” were also searched according to the species being examined. Additional sources were EAZA Best Practice Guidelines, AZA and USDA APHIS Animal Care Guides.
Owing to the large number of species covered with vastly differing degrees of information available, the search criteria were adapted according to the level of information available on Web of Science. Where the available studies did not provide any information about the life of a particular animal in captivity, additional avenues were explored:
1) Cascading by searching the references cited by the publications available.
2) Searching Pubmed, Google Scholar or Hobbyist/ sales websites.
3) Searching for RSPCA care guides.
Evidence from Scotland was prioritised and where evidence was unavailable, studies were included in the following order of priority: Rest of UK, Europe/ North America (for easier comparison, evidence was prioritised in studies where the climate and pet-keeping practices are more similar to Scotland, and where species are kept as “exotic” pets rather than in their native countries). Regulatory monitoring is mentioned where it applies to a particular species (with respect to CITES, importation into the UK and “Dangerous Wild Animal” regulations).
Table 1. Animals included in this review, as defined by Scottish Animal Welfare Commission (SAWC). Terms are listed at species (S), genus (G), Order (O), Class (C) or Family (F) level.
Mammal
Insectivore
Common name
African pygmy hedgehog
Scientific name
Atelerix albiventris (S)
Rodents
Common name
Chinchilla
Scientific name
Chinchilla lanigera (S)
Common name
Chipmunks
Scientific name
Tamius striatus, Eutamius sibiricus (S)
Common name
Degu
Scientific name
Octodon degus (S)
Common name
Dwarf hamsters
Scientific name
Phodopus roborovskii, Phodopus campbelli, Phodopus sungorus, Cricetulus (barabensis) griseus (S)
Carnivores
Common name
Coatis
Scientific name
Nasua spp. (G)
Common name
Leopard cats
Scientific name
Prionailurus bengalensis, Prionailurus javanensis (S)
Common name
Meerkat
Scientific name
Suricata suricatta (S)
Common name
Ocelot
Scientific name
Leopardus pardalis (S)
Common name
Serval
Scientific name
Leptailurus serval (S)
Primates
Common name
Bushbabies
Scientific name
Galago spp., Otolemur spp. (G)
Primates
Common name
Capuchin monkeys
Scientific name
Cebus spp., Sapajus spp. (G)
Common name
Lemurs
Scientific name
Lemur catta, Varecia variegata, Eulemur fulvus (S)
Common name
Marmosets
Scientific name
Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix geoffroyi, Cebuella pygmaea (S)
Common name
Squirrel monkeys
Scientific name
Saimiri spp. (G)
Common name
Tamarins
Scientific name
Saquinus spp., Leontocebus spp. (G)
Marsupials
Common name
Sugar glider
Scientific name
Petaurus breviceps (S)
Common name
Wallabies
Scientific name
Macropus spp., Notamacropus spp. (G)
Birds
Parrots
Common name
African grey parrot
Scientific name
Psittacus erithacus (S)
Common name
Amazon parrots
Scientific name
Amazona spp. (G)
Common name
Cockatoos
Scientific name
Cacatuidae (F)
Common name
Eclectus parrot
Scientific name
Eclectus roratus (S)
Common name
Macaws
Scientific name
Ara spp. (G)
Common name
Ring-necked parakeet
Scientific name
Perching birds
Common name
Finches (except canaries)
Scientific name
Fringillidae (F)
Common name
Barn owl
Scientific name
Tyto alba (S)
Common name
Eagles
Scientific name
Accipitridae (F)
Common name
Eagle owls
Scientific name
Bubo spp. (G)
Common name
Harris hawk
Scientific name
Parabuteo unicinctus (S)
Common name
Lanner falcon
Scientific name
Falco biarmicus (S)
Common name
Saker
Scientific name
Falco cherrug (S)
Common name
Peregrine falcon
Scientific name
Falco peregrinus (S)
Fishes
Common name
Cichlids
Scientific name
Cichlidae (F)
Common name
Clownfishes
Scientific name
Amphiprion spp., Premnas spp. (G)
Common name
Koi carp
Scientific name
Common name
Siamese fighting fish
Scientific name
Betta splendens (S)
Reptiles
Common name
Ball (Royal) python
Scientific name
Python regius (S)
Common name
Burmese python
Scientific name
Python bivittatus (S)
Common name
Bearded dragons
Scientific name
Pogona spp. (G)
Common name
Chameleons
Scientific name
Chamaeleonidae (F)
Common name
Corn snake
Scientific name
Pantherophis guttatus (S)
Common name
Garter snakes
Scientific name
Thamnophis spp. (G)
Common name
Green iguana
Scientific name
Iguana iguana (S)
Common name
Tegus
Scientific name
Salvator spp. (G)
Common name
Tortoises
Scientific name
Testudo spp. (G)
Amphibians
Common name
Alpine newt
Scientific name
Ichthyosaura alpestris (S)
Common name
Argentinian horned frog
Scientific name
Ceratophrys ornata (S)
Common name
Fire-bellied toads
Scientific name
Bombina spp. (G)
Common name
Tree frogs
Scientific name
Hylidae (F)
Invertebrates
Common name
Cephalopods
Scientific name
Cephalopoda (C)
Common name
Decapods
Scientific name
Decapoda (O)
Common name
‘Tarantulas’
Scientific name
Theraphosidae (F)
SAWC agreed to exclude species that are already prohibited from sale/transfer/breeding under invasive species legislation, such as raccoon dogs, Nyctereutes procyonoides, raccoons, Procyon lotor, red-eared terrapins, Trachemys scripta elegans, etc. but left in South American coatis, Nasua nasua, as other species are being traded (e.g., white-nosed coati, Nasua narica).
Contact
Email: SAWC.Secretariat@gov.scot
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