Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets
Versatile journalist Laufer follows his earlier exposé of obsessive butterfly collecting, The Dangerous World of Butterflies (2009), with an intimate look into the motivations of exotic pet ownership. With an eye to tragic wild-pet attacks, he talks to people who own monkeys, lions, tigers, and reptiles, and he interviews people such as actress Tippi Hedren, who fight to end the practice. Laufer lets owners speak for themselves as they rationalize their deep love for creatures they must keep caged and crated for their own and their animals’ safety. By visiting those who attempt to illegally import pets and those who run rescue operations, he observes each extreme of the ownership journey. Laufer spends time in South Florida, where people buy Burmese pythons, and the Everglades, where the devastating effects of nonnative species in the wild are the focus of a serious federal eradication effort. Laufer can’t help but come to his own conclusions about right and wrong, and the serious problems this industry engenders are obvious. --Colleen Mondor