Alligators are among the dangerous animals living somewhere in South Gloucestershire, though not in a zoo or wildlife park.
A Freedom of Information request revealed South Gloucestershire Council currently holds five dangerous animal licences.
These are for an ostrich, venomous snakes and a number of alligators.
A caiman, a small reptile related to the alligator native to Central and South America, a Chinese alligator and an Alligator mississippiensis, an American alligator, are all living in the area.
Other nearby districts have an eclectic mix of creatures. An Asian small-clawer otter is somewhere in the Stroud district, a zorse - cross between a zebra and a horse- lives in the Cotswolds and two serval cats, a small feline’s head attached to a leopard’s body – roam a plot of land in the Forest of Dean.
By law, councils have to issue licences to those who want to keep a dangerous wild animal but not in a zoo or wildlife park.
It currently costs £161.25 for a new licence and £138.21 for renewals.
Brown bears, lynx, wolves and wolverine will all return to the South Gloucestershire woodland they once inhabited this year as part of Wild Place Project's Bear Wood.
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