Mr. Kobayashi, I wouldn’t describe meerkats as “vicious.” That ascribes some devious motive to their actions. They are defensive and aggressive and can cause damage to a human being. But it’s not as if they are sinister. They are wild and act wild.
I certainly agree with your concern for the animal and the silly young woman who doesn’t understand the difference is cute wild creatures and domesticated animals.
“Vicious” has several definitions, one of which is “unpleasantly severe.” I think that’s the definition most people think of when they hear the word vicious, as opposed to the other definitions you are referring to which connote evil or immoral intent.
I call shenanigans! It’s just far away from the webcam. 
Meerkats are out but how about warthogs?
I’m not so sure. When people talk about vicious dogs, at least, they often seem to be thinking of the animals as being intentionally malevolent.
I was an advisor on a tropical fish messageboard when Nemo came out, and I can tell you the Nemo thing is right on. There were people who came on who honestly thought they thought they could take a fishbowl, shake some table or sea salt into it, and plunk in a clownfish. I wouldn’t trust those people to look after a Singing Billy Bass.
I also heard stories (unverified) that kids were then trying to flush said clownfish so they could go to the ocean and be free, though how the poor fish were supposed to survive the gauntlet of fresh water, poo water, and the sewage treatment plant I dunno :smack:
I’ll see your Sugar Glider and raise you a Tarsier.
Personally, I would have guessed a “chaos of ferrets”.
The Nemo thing is really stupid. Isn’t that one of the main points of the movie in the first place? That capturing wild fish for aquariums is wrong?
Yes, but what about a slow loris? Or red panda?
Personally I think chinchillas are adorable but would never own one as a pet as I hear they’re nasty foul-tempered beasts.
Yes indeedy, but to a lot of people it was swamped by the cute factor and the warm & fuzzy (wet & scaly?) family values lesson.
Fortunately it didn’t last too long as people started to realize that saltwater tanks are a lot more work than they counted on, and also that saltwater fish themselves are pretty expensive.
Wrong word perhaps, I meant their behaviour can veer towards the unpleasant if kept in an unnatural environment as a pet, such as nasty bites and tearing a house up.
I swear the prosimians (lorises, lemurs, tarsiers, etc.) always make me think they just escaped from Area 51.
I would love a pallas cat, myself. Actually a breeding pair, since they are endangered. I think they are fascinating. When we move to California, I might see about getting involved in a breeding program, we would have enough area to make a large habitat for them. Cheetahs would also be nice, and are domesticable and have been domesticated for thousands of years - the egyptians used them as sight hunters.
IT’S STARING AT ME!
When you talk about things like sugar gliders as pets, I always have to wonder about the escapees - taking them from their natural habitat and letting them get out in a strange area is usually disastrous for all concerned.
Fennec Foxes are cute.
And a touch noisy in the morning. 
I want a colony of Naked African Mole Rats. 
I saw that video last week, and it melted my cold cold heart.
I read on some website that fennec foxes are illegal in California. How does one confirm this? (Just to see if the article on the website is out of date. The website gave no link to a cite.)
I remember when the re-make of 101 Dalmatians came out. Dalmatian enthusiasts ran a campaign to inform people that they are actually high-maintenence pets. From what I recall, the argument boiled down to, “25% of dalmations are deaf. The rest are just ignoring you.”
Basically anything not a cat or dog is an “exotic”, and most of them require more out of the owner than said dogs and cats. Let’s face it, a lot of humans can’t be trusted to care for dogs and cats, either.
My family has parrots, which are probably one of the easier exotics to care for (if you get one of the better for pets species) but they’re still more work than a dog or cat, much more social than a dog, less attuned to human body language (even the ones they learn to talk still don’t seem to “get” humans as well as dogs), have picky diet requirements, are are easily killed by common household items (avocados, teflon cookware, some types of air fresheners, and other stuff).
They count as a recent “domestic” animal in some species because we started breeding about 150 years ago (before that, nearly all pet birds were captured from the wild, so for the person asking “why haven’t we domesticated anything recently?” there’s an answer for you - we’re working on parrots) but they still have all their wild bird instincts. They’re hugely social, making a friendly dog look like an antisocial hermit, and if not given sufficient attention they can go batshit crazy psychotic - isolated parrots not only have self-plucked themselves bare, but developed repetitive motion to the point of damage, and bitten their own toes off. A crazy parrot that’s crazy due to isolation is a very, very sad animal to see. They can’t always be rehabilitated.
We’ve been keeping parrots for about 20 years now (me - longer for my spouse) and we think we’re pretty good at it, but I’ve still got one bird with OCD tendencies because, I guess, two other birds plus hours a day from the humans just isn’t enough for him (he’s a feather-plucker - not bald, but definitely bald patches) and another bird with aggression tendencies we managed to direct to corn cobs and paper towel rolls instead of people (he’s a loverboy when he’s not upset about something). Birds aren’t mammals, they have different needs, very different ways of expressing themselves, and they’ve still got their weaponry. Large parrots such as macaws and cockatoos can be quite dangerous if mistreated and mishandled to the point they turn on their owners.
There are exotic pets that can be safely kept by the average person IF said person is willing to the required homework. There are others that are Just. Not. Good. Pets. In fact, most wild animals fall into the latter category, no matter how cute and cuddly they look.