When most people think about getting a pet, they usually consider a cat or a dog and maybe a rabbit or some fish.
Few people would think about something like an alligator or a fox, but these kinds of exotic pets are becoming more popular.
“People are just drawn to things that are different,” said Robert Church, Alberta president of the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Canada.
‘They want a pet that’s unique.”
For some, the attraction may be the challenge of raising an exotic animal.
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“It’s like, why does everybody want to go climb Mount Everest?” said Alberta bison rancher Jim Sautner.
“It’s a challenge. I wanted to see if I could do it.”
Sautner owns Bailey D. Buffalo Jr., a 21-month-old bison known for his peaceful attitude and love of car rides.
Nine years ago, the Sautners took in Bailey D. Buffalo Sr., a bison calf that had lost its mother and needed to be bottle fed.
They found he was a lot more peaceful than their other bison, and he went on to become one of the most well known bison in North America.
The Sautners took in Bailey Jr. after the death of Bailey Sr. in April 2008. He, too, was an orphaned calf, and showed signs of having the same attitude as Bailey Sr.
Since then, Bailey Jr. has been a special visitor at the Calgary Stampede, Calgary’s Aggie Days and parades and fairs.
Sautner has redesigned an old Pontiac Bonneville for Bailey to ride in.
“He’s (21) months old and I haven’t told him he’s a buffalo yet. He still thinks he’s people,” Sautner said.
However, he said bison shouldn’t generally be kept as pets because they can be aggressive and unpredictable.
Gary Provencher, a conservation officer with the Saskatchewan environment ministry, said there are other animals that people want as pets that are considered dangerous.
Each province has a list of animals that are illegal to keep in captivity, and some significant differences can be found.
For example, alligators are banned as pets in British Columbia but not in Saskatchewan.
“Alligators are one of the things that people think we don’t let people keep, but they can if it’s kept in a proper enclosure,” Provencher said.
Even if an animal isn’t illegal, Provencher recommends doing your homework first.
“(Animals) can be cute and cuddly when they’re young,” he said.
“We usually advise people that, if they get wildlife when it’s young, to make sure they know what it’s like when it gets older.”
Church said if someone does want to get an unusual pet, they should do a lot of research to find out why it isn’t a popular pet, and what needs to be done to take care of it.
