Mumbai, April 20: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which operates in England and Wales, has condemned the ownership of wild animals after discovering a rare species wandering parts of Britain's streets. Various people saw a black fox in Wales, post which the animal welfare organisation warned that keeping them as pets is very challenging.

In the UK, domesticated black foxes, often known as silver foxes, are kept as pets. The RSPCA said that it was aware of the fox's presence in Barry and Sully, South Wales. Maned Wolf Spotted Crossing a Street; Viral Video of The Endangered Animal Leaves Internet Dazed.

A silver fox has reportedly been seen in Barry, and we hope it’s healthy. Although they have a different coloration, silver foxes are the same species as the red foxes that live in the wild in the UK, an RSPCA representative said. He noted that while historically they were grown for their fur, they are now occasionally maintained as exotic pets.

Experts claim that even skilled handlers have difficulty caring for mature foxes as pets since they require ‘specialist care’ for silver foxes. Foxes are wild animals and have very specific requirements that are the same as those for foxes that live in the wild.

The RSPCA has disapproved keeping foxes as pets saying that even the most knowledgeable fox experts often face trouble effectively maintaining adult foxes. Before making a choice, the RSPCA recommends anybody considering obtaining an exotic pet to thoroughly understand the animal's needs.

The charity added in a statement that exotic pets can live a very long time, get quite big, and need to be transported to an exotics vet if they get sick, which can be expensive. Rare Animal Found in Ladakh, Netizens Believe It To Be Tibetian Lynx After Video Goes Viral.

Meanwhile, the rare animal's current location is unknown, however a bystander who took a photo of it claimed to have last seen it moving in the direction of Barry's docks.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2023 03:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).