When it comes to choosing a household pet, each family is different and cuteness is in the eye of the beholder.
Some of us may need an energetic dog to make us get off the sofa and head out to the park; some of us may need an independent cat who can swan in and out as they please; and some of us may need a rabbit who is perfectly happy in the garden and eating lettuce leaves.
But, when you look closer at what makes a good pet in terms of genetics, characteristics and personality traits, the pros and cons of certain animals change.
A team of animal experts from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have researched 90 species of animals and ranked them according to their basic biology, needs, potential fear of humans and ability to live in captivity – all important factors that could make or break a household pet.
Although they included the conventional pets we know and love – dogs, cats, hamsters – they looked more broadly at a wide range of species and whether they could biologically survive being a pet. They created a list of the top 25…
You may be surprised to learn that dogs, cats and rabbits didn't even make it on to the list of favourites. In fact, the ones that did are rather obscure. How many of these have you heard of?
1. Sika deer
2. Agile wallab
3. Tammar wallaby
4. Llama
5. Asian palm civet
6. Himalayan striped squirrel
7. Common yellow-toothed cavy
8. Golden spiny mouse
9. Common wallaroo
10. Arabian spiny mouse
11. Swamp wallaby
12. Bactrian camel
13. Brazilian Guinea pig
14. Chacoan mara
15. Red-necked wallaby
16. African pygmy mouse
What this does teach us is that, just because cats and dogs are the most conventional pets, there are many other animal species that could potentially take the crown as mans' best friend.