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The story of the man who released his 56 exotic animals into Ohio farmland and then took his own life has brought US animal ownership laws to the attention of the world. Here we take a look at what it really takes to get an exotic pet into an American home.

What types of exotic animal can you own in the US?

Eight states have no laws at all governing the ownership of exotic animals. Elsewhere, dangerous beasts from bears to primates to crocodiles are allowed as pets in much of the country. But even in states with ownership laws, the types of animals allowed vary widely. Arkansas, for example, has a ban on owning large carnivores like lions, tigers and bears, but each citizen can own up to six bobcats. Similarly lax laws in Colorado allow for ownership of up to six kangaroos.

These lenient rules don't come without consequences. The Exotic Animal Incidents database compiled by animal protection organisation Born Free USA cites 75 human deaths since 1990 and over 1500 other incidents. Most occurred in Florida.

How many exotic animals are privately owned in the US?

There are no good numbers because there are no federal regulations on animal ownership, and each state keeps records separately. Leigh Henry is a US-based tiger expert at the conservation campaign group WWF and says, "There's no way to know at any given time where they are." WWF estimated in 2004 that about 5000 tigers were kept in captivity in the US and only 5 per cent of those were in accredited zoos.

That's far more than the 3200 tigers thought to exist in the wild worldwide, but the US isn't the only country breeding the large cats. "The only country that outdoes us is China," says Henry. She says best guesses put the captive tiger population there at 7000, but that counts only the animals held by large-scale commercial tiger farms which are regulated by the government. Many more are probably being kept elsewhere in China.

Where do people get these animals?

Even in states where owning exotic animals is illegal, it is not hard to find a way to get them. There are websites that sell them, livestock yards that hold exotic animal auctions and even the odd story of a woman who sold tiger cubs from a Texas Walmart parking lot.

Bringing the animals across state lines or even into the country isn't difficult either, says Bryan Christy, author of The Lizard King, an exposé of animal trafficking. "There are no toll-booth operators looking for tigers," he says, referring to the lack of state-line checkpoints. "If someone in New York wants a tiger, they drive to Ohio and buy one and just bring it home."

Why is there so much trade in these animals in the US?

The short answer: because it's profitable.

Tiger cubs can be found for as little as $200 but when grown their body parts can be sold for upwards of 10 times that amount. The biggest threat to wild tigers is poaching for their parts, with people selling off skins, bones and whiskers for use in traditional Asian medicine.

Because there are very few regulations, and very little money goes toward enforcing the laws that do exist, Christy calls exotic animal trafficking "the most profitable form of trans-boundary trade bar none". A federal body – the US Fish and Wildlife Service – enforces movement of endangered species into and through the country, but in most cases its fine for a possession violation is just a few hundred dollars, he says.

Exotic animal trafficking is a multibillion-dollar industry, says Christy, and the crimes associated with it are often taken lightly. "In every respect this is organised crime," he says. "It's just that the commodity makes people smile."

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