Bad gift ideas: ferrets and other exotic wild mammals as pets

By Ndivhuwo Shivambu, Post Doctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Department of Nature Conservation, Tshwane University of Technology
Colleen T. Downs, NRF SARChI Research Chair in Ecosystem health and biodiversity in KZN and the E. Cape, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Tinyiko C. Shivambu, Doctor and Lecturer in Nature Conservation, University of South Africa

Looking for a pet for Christmas? Please don’t buy a ferret. They’re not fully domesticated, often escape, and wreak havoc on the environment once they establish feral populations.

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