Exotic Appetite: Inside the Italian Exotic Animal Trade by Federico Borella

It's common to think that ’wet markets’ only exist in Asian countries, but in Italy there are also fairs at which thousands of exotic animals are displayed and sold, and huge profits are made.

At these fairs, exotic animals are considered collectibles. They’re often stressed, kept in plastic trays the same size as the animals they contain, and anyone can touch them. Among the stands it's not uncommon to find animals who are solitary by nature, forced to live in groups, and animals with a strong social nature isolated in plastic boxes. There is also the question of potential risks to human health.