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American Morning
Exotic Pets
Aired June 11, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The investigation of the monkeypox outbreak in the Midwest has now spread to seven states; 48 people may be infected with the disease, which investigators said has been spread by prairie dogs. The outbreak points to the dangers of owning exotic pets. We talked with Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo. He is with us from Columbus for a little show and tell for about what you need to know about these animals, and he, of course, has brought some of his exotic friends with him.
Jack, good morning.
JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: Good morning.
This is an example right here of a pet that someone has, a parrot for example, which can carry diseases. Most of them don't, especially in captivity, but what you have to be careful of, these birds living over 100 years old. This was a pet that wasn't being taken care of. But now of course, the zoo, we have it for educational programs. This is a very difficult animal to take care of as a pet.
KAGAN: I'm sorry. The idea is people don't really realize what's involved in having these pets, whether it's danger to themselves or the amount of care they take in terms of the parrot there, the long-term commitment that you're making?
HANNA: Exactly. In other words, when you get an animal like this, probably about 100 percent of the people have pets, maybe 4 percent know what they're doing. That's the problem. This bird on my left, this haisan mccaw (ph), it's one of the largest parrots in the world, can destroy a broomstick in less than 10 seconds. You can imagine what it can do to your house in that amount of time. So it's a gorgeous bird, very rare also, and a lot of these birds, if you have to get a bird, you must get them from in a reputable breeder, not from somebody you don't know, or see on the coast of Mexico or buy him on the beach something. It's very, very dangerous to do that, because they do carry diseases.
Here's another pet right here we see a lot of are snakes. Now, this looks like a real nice pet. But it takes a lot of work, a lot of care. Snakes can carry salmonella, like another animal we'll discuss in a minute. So this is an animal that grows up, they can bite. They have 220 teeth shaped like fish hooks. There was a man in Pittsburgh about five years ago that had a 19-foot python that actually strangled him in the basement and tried to eat him. He couldn't get him down. So that doesn't happen very often.
But these are animals you don't want around a lot of children and stuff, because it takes a lot of care for a snake like this.
KAGAN: Let me ask you about the snakes and the reptiles and this idea about salmonella, because there are definitely people out there who are fond of having reptiles. How do you get salmonella, and why is it dangerous?
HANNA: Salmonella come -- I'll show you here a turtle in just a minute. Salmonella comes from the meat that you put in. For example, if you have a pet turtle, like slider turtles back in the '70s. Everybody feeds it this little bits of meat. It sits in the stagnant water. Salmonella develops. Salmonella can very readily from animal to animal, or animal to person. Obviously, diarrhea, lethargic, that's the kind of symptoms you have. So that's a very, very dangerous thing. If you have a turtle, you have to keep the water clean. You have to watch it, and young kids have to wash their hands. That's where the problem starts.
KAGAN: Who else do you have there with you?
HANNA: We have an owl here, for example. People talk about West Nile Virus. Here at the Columbus Zoo, we had 25 cases last summer. Someone said, oh, we can't go to the zoo. Trust me, the zoos are the safest places you can go to. In your own backyard, you're not monitoring what's happening with animals back there. At the zoos, we're monitoring every single day.
The birds can catch it, but the birds can't give it. People, think, oh, I can't get near a bird, it has West Nile Virus. You have to be bitten by the mosquito to get West Nile virus, and that's 1 percent of the birds get it.
So this is an owl. These are the kinds of carrier that could have it, for example.
This next animal is an animal people used to get as pets here several months ago. This is a baby cervil (ph). It looks beautiful does, like a little kitten. This animal is protected, virtually on the endangered species list, and it's not an animal you want to have as a pet. This is very flighty. They can scratch. It's got long teeth, and it grows to be about 30 pounds. You can see, it's gorgeous, it's so cute and everything when you buy it. But number one, unless you have the proper papers, it's against the law, and number two, you've got to be very careful of cats and also what they might carry, toxal plasmosis (ph), for example. You've heard of that one. Pregnant women can't clean litter out of a cat cage. Cat's can actually be carriers of that, not have the symptoms and be carriers and you can get that disease as well.
KAGAN: If we could skip the turtle, because SARS has been in the news so much and we've been hearing about these civet (ph) cats. So if we could see that and you could find out how that works.
HANNA: We have a civet (ph) here. This is not a cat, by the way, it's in the mongoose family. People think it's a cat. This is exactly what you're talking about. This is a palm civet.
Here, Julie, come over here.
And the palm civet is an animal that carries it, because the Chinese consider it a delicacy.
So what they do is they skin the animal, when they're handling the animal, obviously, they're getting the bacteria -- I'm sorry. He's just acting up a little bit here. The palm civet is considered a delicacy in China. So that's what happened, when you breathe and you sneeze, that's what -- we don't know if the humans gave the palm civet to the disease or vice versa. But they do know that the mass (ph) palm civet it has it. This was from the zoo, so it obviously doesn't have SARS, or I wouldn't be holding it right now. They use the anal glands of this animal for perfume. Can you imagine that? So that's how why they really think a lot of this palm civet, but this is one where they say SARS came from.
KAGAN: Yes, we've heard a lot about that and wanted a chance to see what one looked like. The bottom line is, of course, no one enjoys exotic animals more than you do, Jack, but the message you want to get to folks out there, if you want to do it, go to places like the Columbus Zoo, and don't take these animals into your own home.
And they use the anal glands for perfume. Imagine that! that's why they -- this is the one where they say SARS came from.
We've heard a lot about that and wanted a chance to see what one looked like. The bottom line is of course, no one enjoys exotic animals more than you, jack. The message, if you want to do it, go to places like the Columbus Zoo and don't take these animals into your own home.
HANNA: Exactly, because it's a lot of work, and you can get sick, yes.
KAGAN: Very good. Jack Hanna, joining us from the Columbus Zoo. Appreciate it. We'll let you and the civet go.
HANNA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 11, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The investigation of the monkeypox outbreak in the Midwest has now spread to seven states; 48 people may be infected with the disease, which investigators said has been spread by prairie dogs. The outbreak points to the dangers of owning exotic pets. We talked with Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo. He is with us from Columbus for a little show and tell for about what you need to know about these animals, and he, of course, has brought some of his exotic friends with him.
Jack, good morning.
JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: Good morning.
This is an example right here of a pet that someone has, a parrot for example, which can carry diseases. Most of them don't, especially in captivity, but what you have to be careful of, these birds living over 100 years old. This was a pet that wasn't being taken care of. But now of course, the zoo, we have it for educational programs. This is a very difficult animal to take care of as a pet.
KAGAN: I'm sorry. The idea is people don't really realize what's involved in having these pets, whether it's danger to themselves or the amount of care they take in terms of the parrot there, the long-term commitment that you're making?
HANNA: Exactly. In other words, when you get an animal like this, probably about 100 percent of the people have pets, maybe 4 percent know what they're doing. That's the problem. This bird on my left, this haisan mccaw (ph), it's one of the largest parrots in the world, can destroy a broomstick in less than 10 seconds. You can imagine what it can do to your house in that amount of time. So it's a gorgeous bird, very rare also, and a lot of these birds, if you have to get a bird, you must get them from in a reputable breeder, not from somebody you don't know, or see on the coast of Mexico or buy him on the beach something. It's very, very dangerous to do that, because they do carry diseases.
Here's another pet right here we see a lot of are snakes. Now, this looks like a real nice pet. But it takes a lot of work, a lot of care. Snakes can carry salmonella, like another animal we'll discuss in a minute. So this is an animal that grows up, they can bite. They have 220 teeth shaped like fish hooks. There was a man in Pittsburgh about five years ago that had a 19-foot python that actually strangled him in the basement and tried to eat him. He couldn't get him down. So that doesn't happen very often.
But these are animals you don't want around a lot of children and stuff, because it takes a lot of care for a snake like this.
KAGAN: Let me ask you about the snakes and the reptiles and this idea about salmonella, because there are definitely people out there who are fond of having reptiles. How do you get salmonella, and why is it dangerous?
HANNA: Salmonella come -- I'll show you here a turtle in just a minute. Salmonella comes from the meat that you put in. For example, if you have a pet turtle, like slider turtles back in the '70s. Everybody feeds it this little bits of meat. It sits in the stagnant water. Salmonella develops. Salmonella can very readily from animal to animal, or animal to person. Obviously, diarrhea, lethargic, that's the kind of symptoms you have. So that's a very, very dangerous thing. If you have a turtle, you have to keep the water clean. You have to watch it, and young kids have to wash their hands. That's where the problem starts.
KAGAN: Who else do you have there with you?
HANNA: We have an owl here, for example. People talk about West Nile Virus. Here at the Columbus Zoo, we had 25 cases last summer. Someone said, oh, we can't go to the zoo. Trust me, the zoos are the safest places you can go to. In your own backyard, you're not monitoring what's happening with animals back there. At the zoos, we're monitoring every single day.
The birds can catch it, but the birds can't give it. People, think, oh, I can't get near a bird, it has West Nile Virus. You have to be bitten by the mosquito to get West Nile virus, and that's 1 percent of the birds get it.
So this is an owl. These are the kinds of carrier that could have it, for example.
This next animal is an animal people used to get as pets here several months ago. This is a baby cervil (ph). It looks beautiful does, like a little kitten. This animal is protected, virtually on the endangered species list, and it's not an animal you want to have as a pet. This is very flighty. They can scratch. It's got long teeth, and it grows to be about 30 pounds. You can see, it's gorgeous, it's so cute and everything when you buy it. But number one, unless you have the proper papers, it's against the law, and number two, you've got to be very careful of cats and also what they might carry, toxal plasmosis (ph), for example. You've heard of that one. Pregnant women can't clean litter out of a cat cage. Cat's can actually be carriers of that, not have the symptoms and be carriers and you can get that disease as well.
KAGAN: If we could skip the turtle, because SARS has been in the news so much and we've been hearing about these civet (ph) cats. So if we could see that and you could find out how that works.
HANNA: We have a civet (ph) here. This is not a cat, by the way, it's in the mongoose family. People think it's a cat. This is exactly what you're talking about. This is a palm civet.
Here, Julie, come over here.
And the palm civet is an animal that carries it, because the Chinese consider it a delicacy.
So what they do is they skin the animal, when they're handling the animal, obviously, they're getting the bacteria -- I'm sorry. He's just acting up a little bit here. The palm civet is considered a delicacy in China. So that's what happened, when you breathe and you sneeze, that's what -- we don't know if the humans gave the palm civet to the disease or vice versa. But they do know that the mass (ph) palm civet it has it. This was from the zoo, so it obviously doesn't have SARS, or I wouldn't be holding it right now. They use the anal glands of this animal for perfume. Can you imagine that? So that's how why they really think a lot of this palm civet, but this is one where they say SARS came from.
KAGAN: Yes, we've heard a lot about that and wanted a chance to see what one looked like. The bottom line is, of course, no one enjoys exotic animals more than you do, Jack, but the message you want to get to folks out there, if you want to do it, go to places like the Columbus Zoo, and don't take these animals into your own home.
And they use the anal glands for perfume. Imagine that! that's why they -- this is the one where they say SARS came from.
We've heard a lot about that and wanted a chance to see what one looked like. The bottom line is of course, no one enjoys exotic animals more than you, jack. The message, if you want to do it, go to places like the Columbus Zoo and don't take these animals into your own home.
HANNA: Exactly, because it's a lot of work, and you can get sick, yes.
KAGAN: Very good. Jack Hanna, joining us from the Columbus Zoo. Appreciate it. We'll let you and the civet go.
HANNA: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
