Finally, the sense that wild nature is nearly gone inspires many people to obtain a last piece of it embodied in a wild animal. Most have enough sense to know that cougars and monkeys belong in their native habitats, not in cages or on leashes. Yet too many others lacking this sense think it cute or daring to own an exotic. While concerns about animal well-being are foremost in the minds of animal advocates, other concerns are more likely to rouse the public and to move policy makers to action regarding exotics. Some state and local public-health officials, for example, are concerned that exotics might pose a threat to human health and safety.
Large carnivores can get loose and attack people, as cougars and wolf hybrids are wont to do.
Other animals, especially primates, can carry diseases harmful to humans. Near Branson, Missouri, a few years ago, Japanese macaques wandered from a roadside zoo and established a free-roaming colony. Many were infected with simian herpes, a disease fairly harmless to the animals but fatal to humans. Luckily, the feral macaques were captured before they could menace tourists or other animals. Exotics, they say, can harm native species through disease, predation, competition for food and habitat, and hybridization.