A Chinese alligator is among the 11 dangerous wild animals being kept privately in South Gloucestershire, according to a wildlife charity.

A survey conducted by Born Free, which campaign against animal exploitation, found a staggering 3,951 dangerous wild animals are licensed to be kept privately in Great Britain, including elephants, lions and crocodiles.

Ten venomous snakes and a Chinese alligator are being housed in South Gloucestershire, while in neighbouring Stroud there were four King Cobras and an otter reported.

Perhaps the worst offending county near South Gloucestershire was Wiltshire, with 17 boar, 60 bison, four wolves, two ocelots, three camels, five leopards, seven lemurs, three rare cobras, three rare vipers a Bengal cat and a Savannah cat.

In North Somerset, three zebra, one zebra hybrid and a Somali wild ass were recorded by Born Free and in Bristol they reported a spectacled cobra, monocled cobra and a dwarf caiman.

Licences are not needed for animals kept in zoos, circuses, pet shops and places registered under the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1876 for the purpose of performing.

Founded by Virginia McKenna OBE, Will Travers OBE and Bill Travers MBE in 1984, Born Free work to stop the exploitation and suffering of animals living in captivity or the wild.

Born Free supports the work of wildlife rescue centres and sanctuaries in the UK to rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned wild animals.