The exotic pet trade causes extensive suffering through capture, transport, and confinement of wild animals. Most exotic species have behavioral and physiological needs that cannot be met in private homes.
Exotic pet welfare failures are often total: animals kept as pets that evolved for complex wild environments cannot have their behavioral, social, and physiological needs met in homes regardless of how well-intentioned the owner. A slow loris in a living room cannot engage in nocturnal ranging, foraging, or the social behaviors essential to its wellbeing. A parrot or primate kept alone is socially deprived to a degree that causes psychological damage. The welfare suffering in the exotic pet trade begins at capture where mortality from stress and injury is extreme, continues through transport, and persists through the entire captive life of the animal. Exotic pet ownership also creates public safety risks and contributes to wildlife population decline.