It has certain inborn behavior patterns and also requires learned behavior to survive in competitive natural environments. It is virtually impossible for a wild animal to adapt to traditional household living. It is also impossible for pet owners to influence behavior patterns of wild animals or to predict when wild and often destructive behavior will occur. A wild animal is especially dangerous in this regard, since an owner would have no way of knowing what diseases the animal had been exposed to in its natural environment. Diseases such as rabies can have extremely lengthy incubation periods, lasting several weeks or even several months.
Wild animals harbor parasites which can be lethal, especially to infants and young children.
Internal parasites such as ascarid worms, tapeworms, flukes, and protozoa can cause debilitating and often fatal diseases in humans, while external parasites such as ticks and fleas transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, bubonic plague, and other serious diseases. A pet is a domesticated animal that is kept for pleasure rather than utility. Domesticated animals make good pets because they have been bred, many for thousands of years, to coexist with humans in a household setting. In fact, behavior patterns which are especially appropriate for the domestic animal's existence in a human household are consciously selected by breeders. What About Zoos and Aquariums Zoos and aquariums were once places where disenchanted pet owners could unload their problem pets.