Global Assessment of Wild Mammals Kept as Pets, 702 Species

702 mammal species recorded as pets, including 300 threatened taxa, across at least 65 countries. The dataset, created by Hyago Keslley Lucena Soares and last updated in May 2026, shows strong phylogenetic clustering among primates, carnivores, and rodents. It supports policy and awareness efforts regarding the conservation risks of wild pet ownership.

Use Cases

• Modeling phylogenetic clustering in pet-keeping trends based on species orders mentioned in the description.
• Analyzing the relationship between species body mass and likelihood of being kept as a pet.
• Assessing the association between threat status and pet ownership prevalence.

Strengths

• Records over 702 mammal species, providing a substantial species list.
• Includes 300 threatened taxa, highlighting conservation relevance.
• Covers at least 65 countries, indicating a broad geographic scope.

Limitations

• The 244.4 KB file size suggests a limited scope, likely a summary document rather than raw observational data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The description notes the country list likely reflects research availability rather than actual global extent, indicating potential geographic bias.

Provenance

Source

Hyago Keslley Lucena Soares via figshare

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-12 04:19:40

Geography

Global (at least 65 countries)