Customer Reviews

Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets

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I read and purchased this book after seeing it attached to 'Stolen World' on Amazon. The author interviews some interesting people but when interviewing them seems to go to great lengths to make them seem rather bizarre when in some cases they seem perfectly responsible in what they are doing. He makes attempts to dismiss their efforts and successes often with glib commentary. As an example at Chimparty one would have to be clueless not to see that the lady being interviewed has done an admirable job maintaining such a large and difficult group of animals. Zoos often have more resources and staff and don't do nearly as well as she has done. Likewise her knowledge of these animals is a resource for their captive management. This is aside from her breeding and selling chimps which I do not support. But the rest of what she has done is an admirable effort that the author simply dismisses as his words ' a misguided, tragic figure, an unfortunate woman who may be as trapped and broken as her chimps'. Nonsense, she has been passionate, dedicated, respectful, and successful with a difficult species. She has done better than most zoos for goodness sakes. Is this even broached- No as that would make exotic owners seem positive.

Another complete miss on his part is the benefit of animal outreach programs to the general publics general awareness of wildlife in general. If all we had where public instituions with wildlife the public would be woefully underinformed and unfamiliar with animals and this would hurt allot of the very causes alleged animal rights groups support. Shamu may not have the life of his wild cousins but can anyone reasonably argue that the captive whale doesn't increase public awareness of wild populations.

The author is completely dismissive of the very real environmental toll loose house cats have on native populations of wild animals particuarly songbirds. He poo poos the mention of this from Shawn Heflick. Later mentioning his vet(obviously misguided as well) tells him a housecat should be outdoors. The damage housecats do across the USA to various species far exceeds that of the pythons in the everglades.

In conclusion while the author does a decent job highlighting the relatively rare occurrences of exotics causing problems and attempts to be even handed in allot of places. In the end his work is pointedly one sided and to dismissve of logic and the reality of how animals exotic and not impact our world.

Honestly, this book isn't what I thought it would be. But I was enthralled nonetheless. Mr. Laufer is an admirable journalist. He takes a controversial subject and expresses multiple facets of the issue while remaining fair and relatively unbiased. I was very impressed with the way he presented the owners' stories because it would have been very easy to represent them as delusional and ignorant, if not downright stupid. But he told their stories in detail, free of judgment.

One reason I respected Mr. Laufer and enjoyed his book is that he went into this endeavor not knowing how he felt about the issue; he went into it wanting to understand other people's motives - the people who wanted to own exotic "pets," the ones who bred and sold them, and the ones who wanted to ban exotic pet ownership (as well as breeding, buying and selling, of course). He carefully weighed all sides, but the running theme was the desire to understand why people were compelled to share their homes with big cats, apes and long snakes.

He presented facts (many of which were fascinating), observations, opinions, and stories. I didn't feel that he was trying to sway his readers to one point of view or the other, which is refreshing.

FORBIDDEN CREATURES: INSIDE THE WORLD OF ANIMAL SMUGGLING AND EXOTIC PETS comes from an investigative journalist who chronicles his worldwide quest to penetrate international smuggling circles. His experiences make for eye-opening reading packed with facts and drama, presents personal encounters with breeders and smugglers, and chronicles the crisis of wild species. General-interest and wildlife-oriented collections will find this a 'must'.

After reading a couple other excellent books on the sinewy underworld of animal smuggling, I was looking forward to tearing through this book as I had the other two. Unfortunately it was not to be. Firstly, the chapters are broken-up into an incongruous mess, and often are duplicative. There were multiple times I caught myself wondering, "Didn't I just read this?"

Unfortunately, the author is quite obviously a west coast liberal whose political and religious biases saturate each chapter in classic condescension. He calls himself a journalist, but in fact, journalism isn't about opinions, it's about reporting.

I highly recommend you look elsewhere--this book is not entertaining, and is political to boot.

For those among us who have never before joined Peter Laufer for one of his true-life. journalistic adventures, Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets, is not only an intensely enjoyable read, it is a perfect introduction to one of the most prolific storytellers of our time. For those of you who already know the pleasure of Laufer's writing, FORBIDDEN CREATURES is a must get for your summertime reading. The only caution I offer is that because this book is so rich in texture, so effective at taking you from your own reality into someone else's, some of you may find yourselves looking over your shoulder or peering into bushes worrying that some exotic pet owner may have just gotten sloppy and accidentally let loose a lethal snake or ever a tiger. This book, like Laufer's shelf of earlier adventures, carries you deep into hidden areas of life, penetrates where outsiders dare not go or are simply not welcome. You will meet real people whose choices have placed them in danger, despite their insistence that what they do is perfectly safe. As always, Laufer (one of the most honored broadcast journalists in America)has the special ability to listen closely and in the proces, to hear the music of dialect and word choice and to capture all that. The effect is to bring people to life right in front of you, as his words take you firmly by the hand for one adventure after another. The only complaint I is that when I'd finished reading the last chapter, I was hungry for more. The cure for me was picking up and re-reading one of his earlier books, THE DANGEROUS WORLD OF BUTTERFLIES. Another terrific journey into places I did not existed filled with very interesting people I would otherwise never have met.

Once again, journalist Peter Laufer has taken us into an unfamiliar world of beautiful and endangered beings. Once again, the real "forbidden creatures" are the humans who abuse other species for profit. Once again, Dr. Laufer's alluringly conversational style makes us feel as if we had gone along for the adventure.

Luckily, we do not need to follow in his footsteps, chasing after this cast of nefarious characters. The author takes us to some of the world's weirdest corners and uncovers chilling aspects of the illicit animal trade. It's not all gloomy, however. There are plenty of laughs along the way, too.

This book makes a great gift, but beware -- you might not want to part with it!

"Forbidden Creatures" (Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets): by Peter Laufer (PHD), is somewhat of an updated version of various animal conservation styled books such as; "Animal Underworld" by Alan Green, "Where the Wild things Were" by William Stolzenburg, and "The Empty Ocean" by Richard Ellis. However, this book veers more into the business and psychological path of collecting exotic creatures, as well as the "exotic personalities" who collect them. Sometimes you wonder..." who's really collecting who"?

What are the reasons people are so obsessed with collecting these unusual and dangerous animals? In the case of primates it seems that the "mothering" or nurturing of a helpless cute little "human-like" creature is the initial impetuous, but soon overridden by anthromorphic feelings that somehow snare those who are caring for the animal. The author naturally brings up the danger of such illusion by interjecting the tragic chimpanzee attack on Charla Nash, as well as a host of other "pet" attacks.

The need to collect and maintain exotic animals stems from; Love of Intrigue, fascination of the unusual, symbolic power of authority, loneliness, and... a full bag of various independent psychological needs. The results of which are usually counter-productive for both the "collected", as well as the..." collectors".

Dr. Laufer gives the reader a full in-depth range of this dark and nasty worldwide business. He introduces the reader to all involved; "the good", "the bad' and..."the ugly."

Dr. Laufer makes a prophetic statement on page 140 when he discusses the changing laws and attitudes of a developing sensitivity by most nations when he states: "At the same time, our cultural zeitgeist is becoming more sensitive about the use of animals for human amusement." Ironically, some thirty years ago, I was reading such books as ; "A Zoo in My Luggage" and "My Family and Other Animals" by private Zoo collector and animal lover, Gerald Durrell. A time when it was "Ok" to collect "forbidden creatures", and now I can easily see (and, rightfully so)... "The pendulum has swung in the opposite direction." Somewhere in all of this...there is a glimmer of hope thanks to people like, Dr. Peter Laufer.

Although, I sometimes felt that some of his information appeared repetitious throughout the book at times, Dr. Laufer's writing technique and presentation are interesting and fun to read. He exhibits an obvious sense of humor in his writing, which ultimately helps to dilute the aura of sadness in this topic matter. This is above all, an informative and interesting book. If, you profess to "love animals" then, I highly suggest ...you read this book!

Peter Laufer's excellently written, intriguing book about wild animals in captivity is as amazing as it is shocking. This book should be required reading, not only those who wish to keep wild and exotic pets. If innocent victims of these wild animals read Peter Laufer's compelling book before they expose themselves to these real and unpredictable dangers, they will be better equipped to save face---literally as well as literarily.

As a student and scholar of the illicit wildlife trade, I found this book extremely educational and fascinating. This book thoroughly explored the wildlife trade and the consequences it has on the environment. I found this book so interesting that I was able to read it cover to cover in a couple of days.

This book does not tell both sides. The author approached me with some questions without relaying to me anything about him writing a book.