[thwiv]

That's actually what the Austin Zoo is: A bunch of animals people tried to keep as pets that they had to give up when the animal got big enough to eat them. Lions, Tigers, Bears...seriously someone tried to have a bear as a pet.

[toomanybeersies]

A Polish Army unit in WWII kept a bear as a unit mascot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_(bear)

However, it would appear that Wojtek was a cub for most of the war.

[Broken_Hippo]

That makes me feel a whole lot better about the Austin Zoo. :)

And it doesn't surprise me that folks have kept them as pets. I don't really understand it and truly wish this sort of practice would stop. Or at least require people to invest time and money into special classes concerning their animal along with long-term planning for the care of the animal. It won't stop some people, though.

[alonmower]

I feel like a fair number of zoos are like this nowadays. I spent a summer working at the Belize zoo when I was younger and it was the same story, animals that had been kept as pets, had injuries, etc... that wouldn't make it in the wild.