Scientists think these 5 wild animals could make great pets

Getting bored of Felix and Fido?

Apparently, some people in the Netherlands are, and they've begun seeking out more exotic pets.

A team of scientists there wanted to know what animals that aren't traditionally pets might make safe, happy, friendly companions.

After all, it's not just being cute and furry that we look for in a pet. We also need to know an animal will be comfortable living with humans and that we can take care of them responsibly - all without posing risks to us or our neighbors.

The researchers started with a list of 90 mammals and gathered facts about how each lives. Then they asked a few different groups of people to read each statement and decide whether it made the animal suitable or unsuitable as a pet, and then evaluate the animal based on the whole collection of statements they'd read. The five animals below were rated overall as suitable pets by the majority of a team of eight animal scientists, although no animal convinced all of the judges.

This is more a fun thought experiment than anything else, and we definitely don't recommend you go looking for some of these critters to adopt. (In many places, doing so would be illegal.) And while these five animals got tentative interest from the scientific team, other groups the researchers had evaluate their characteristics suggested none of the 90 animals on the initial list could responsibly be turned into pets.

All of the photos below are of animals in zoos cared for by trained professionals.