Penguin travels every year to visit man who rescued him (2016)
> It's technically illegal to have a wild animal as a pet in Brazil, as officials want to ensure vulnerable creatures don't get separated from their families and that they can be reintroduced into the wild after injury.Same where I am. I've wondered, though. What constitutes a pet?For example, I give peanuts to the wild squirrels around my house. This is not illegal where I live. It is illegal, however, to keep a wild squirrel as a pet.Several of the squirrels seem to recognize me, and run up to me when I go out, get up on their hind legs, and wave their front paws around in a gesture that looks like they are asking for peanuts.I'm pretty sure some of them would come inside to get their peanuts if I opened the front door but did not go outside. From there I could probably train them to essentially be pets [1].But would they legally be pets, and therefore illegal, if they were free to come and go at will? Or would they simply be wild animals coming into human space, which happens to be controlled by a human who isn't going to make them leave?A co-worker had a similar situation with a raccoon. He was giving her food, and she got more and more comfortable with him, to the point she would come right up, and peacefully accept food and petting. She even brought her babies by apparently to show them to him.Was he legally keeping a pet raccoon?[1] I don't actually want squirrels in my house. In fact, I've done some looking into squirrel traps in case one does come in and I need to get it out. That almost happened a couple of times when I was tossing peanuts from the door, and one squirrel startled another from behind, causing the first squirrel to dash forward right toward my door.