Exotic animals are those that we often have as pets, but that are often found wild in other countries. Examples of these include our parrots, macaws and iguanas. Also, check with your state and federal wildlife officials as to the proper permits required for keeping exotic pets. Native wildlife are those animals indigenous to any given area. In our area, native wildlife are our birds of prey, songbirds, skunks, raccoons, weasels, badgers, fox, squirrels, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions- just to name a few.
State law prohibits the keeping of any of our native wildlife as pets.
Persons from other states who possess any of our indigenous wild species must have proper permits before the animal can enter California. Several states allow native wildlife to be kept as pets, California does not. Should you decide to acquire a pet that isn't your run of the mill domestic animal, make sure you can legally possess the animal and make sure you can properly house and care for it. Many times, exotic pets either escape from their owners or are discarded by irresponsible people. Most exotics will not survive if they are not in their proper habitat, especially if they have spent most, if not all, of their lives in a captive situation.