The 15 Most Extreme Celebrity Pets
![The 15 Most Extreme Celebrity Pets](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/4/880544_320x180.jpg)
For the same reason freshly minted supermodels keep dating Leonardo DiCaprio, everyone has wished at some point that they could own an exotic pet, even though it’s guaranteed to end badly. Like, have you ever seen a baby leopard? They’re the cutest things you’ll ever see, and that includes your own children. They even meow like domestic kittens, except better. Unfortunately, they will grow up and eat your face, which is why the law doesn’t let you bring them home and snuggle them forever.
Like all laws, though, they don’t count if you’re famous. The rich and notorious throughout history have not only been allowed to play God over a variety of dangerous wild animals, they’ve thought nothing of flaunting it, whether they’re presenting their zoo pal as an honored dinner guest or walking them through the city streets on a leash that’s more of an empty gesture than a precaution. Your common ass could never.
Mike Tyson’s Tigers
![Extreme Celebrity Pets MIKE TYSON'S TIGERS IT WASN'T JUST A HANGOVER JOKE. Tyson really did own three pet tigers until one of them attacked a trespasser, which seems like an added benefit (everyone heeds beware of tiger signs), but it was apparently the first time he learned that tigers are dangerous. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/8/880558.jpg)
Tippi Hedren’s Lions
![Extreme Celebrity Pets TIPPI HEDREN'S LIONS DOZENS OF LIONS AND TIGERS LIVED IN THE BIRDS ACTRESS' HOUSE IN THE '70s, UNTIL ONE MAULED HER TEENAGE DAUGHTER. The cats now live on a compound, and Hedren founded an organization to educate the public about the dangers of private ownership of exotic animals, which is kind of like drinking from the spit bucket at a wine tasting and then running around telling everyone else not to do it. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/0/880550.jpg)
Universal Pictures, Eric Isselee/Shutterstock
Pope Leo X's Elephant
![Extreme Celebrity Pets POPE LEO X'S ELEPHANT THE KING OF PORTUGAL GAVE IT TO HIM IN EXCHANGE FOR SOME SWEET SHIPPING ROUTES. It turns out elephants don't really do well in Mediterranean climates, so it died within two years. Leo was so devastated that he had it buried beneath the Vatican and memorialized by Raphael, who surely had nothing better to paint. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/4/880554.jpg)
Nero's Tiger
![Extreme Celebrity Pets NERO'S TIGER NERO ADOPTED HIS TIGER SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE SHE WAS so VICIOUS. The deceptively amiably named Phoebe impressed the emperor in a gladiatorial catfight, so he took her home, built her a golden cage, and fed her nothing but the finest diet of enemy soldiers. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/6/880546.jpg)
Napoleon’s Orangutan
![Extreme Celebrity Pets NAPOLEON'S ORANGUTAN TO BE FAIR, ROSE WAS MORE HIS WIFE'S PET. Joséphine Bonaparte dressed her simian bestie in fancy gowns, served her turnips at the dinner table with the rest of her guests, and even let her sleep in bed with her and her husband, which probably threatened his masculinity a lot more than his height. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/5/880545.jpg)
Jacques-Louis David/Wiki Commons, Anoine-Jean Gros/Wiki Commons, yebemoto/Shutterstock
Anton LaVey’s Leopard
![Extreme Celebrity Pets ANTON LAVEY'S LEOPARD AT LEAST TIPPI HEDREN DIDN'T TAKE HER LIONS OUT IN PUBLIC. The Church of Satan founder could often be seen on the streets of San Francisco walking his familiar, a black leopard named Zoltan, proving that real Satanists are just huge dorks. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/2/880552.jpg)
Thomas Jefferson's Bears
![Extreme Celebrity Pets THOMAS JEFFERSON'S BEARS НЕ REALLY ONLY KEPT THEM LONG ENOUGH TO SAFELY REHOME THEM, BUT THAT WAS, WELL, LONG ENOUGH. The pair of grizzly cubs, which were gifted to Jefferson in 1807, spent two months in an enclosure on the front lawn of Monticello. His political opponents seized on what they called his bear-garden, but the joke's on them because we're voting for any politician who owns one of those. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/3/880553.jpg)
Rembrandt Peale/Wiki Commons, Volodymyr Burdiak/Shutterstock
Pablo Escobar's Hippos
![Extreme Celebrity Pets PABLO ESCOBAR'S HIPPOS THEY MAY LOOK CUTE, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, THEY WILL TEAR YOUR ASS UP. They were abandoned on the drug kingpin's ranch after his 1993 death, where they've become a huge problem for the Colombian population of people who don't want to get gored by hippos. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/7/880557.jpg)
Colombian National Police/Wiki Commons, Guillermo Ossa/Shutterstock
Elvis Presley’s Kangaroo
![Extreme Celebrity Pets ELVIS PRESLEY'S KANGAROO 6240 IF KANGAROO JACK TAUGHT US ANYTHING, IT'S THAT KANGAROOS WILL KILL YOU RIGHT IN THE FACE. That didn't stop Elvis' agent from giving him one in the late '50s, but it wasn't much seen after posing for some pictures to promote Jailhouse Rock, probably because it looked much cooler than the movie's actual star. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/1/880551.jpg)
Salvador Dalí's Ocelot
![Extreme Celebrity Pets SALVADOR DALI'S OCELOT IT WENT WITH HIM EVERYWHERE IN THE '60s. It's still unclear whether Dali's ocelot friend, Babou, was just a painted cat or if that's just what he told a woman who objected to him bringing it into a fancy restaurant. It doesn't really make a difference when it escapes and terrorizes a hotel, which it did at least once. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/9/880549.jpg)
Nicolas Cage’s Cobras
![Extreme Celebrity Pets NICOLAS CAGE'S COBRAS HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE HOA, WE MIGHT HAVE LOST THE GREATEST ACTOR OF A GENERATION. Though Cage said his two king cobras kept trying to hypnotize and kill him, he didn't actually get rid of them until the neighbors found out and lodged a complaint. People in L.A. are so nosy. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/8/880548.jpg)
Lord Byron's Bear
![Extreme Celebrity Pets LORD BYRON'S BEAR НЕ GOT IT JUST BECAUSE TRINITY COLLEGE DIDN'T ALLOW DOGS. There weren't any explicit rules against pet bears, so while they presumably worked on passing those, Byron walked his bear around campus, applied for it to become a student, and generally annoyed everyone before leaving the school three years later. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/6/880556.jpg)
Tycho Brahe’s Moose
![Extreme Celebrity Pets TYCHO BRAHE'S MOOSE UNFORTUNATELY, THE ECCENTRIC ASTRONOMER'S PET PARTIED JUST AS HARD AS НЕ DID. In fact, it even became more popular than him. The moose was partying at a neighboring castle when it got so drunk that it fell down the stairs to its death, which is why you should never give a moose beer even though it would be hilarious AF. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/5/880555.jpg)
Josephine Baker’s Cheetah
![Extreme Celebrity Pets CASINO DE PARIS zig JOSEPHINE и BAKER'S CHEETAH CHIQUITA WAS EVEN PART OF HER STAGE SHOW. In addition to sleeping in her bed and traveling with her, Baker's pet cheetah was also her employee, roaming around onstage and occasionally diving into the orchestra pit, to the musicians' terror and the audience's delight. People really hated flautists back then. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/5/9/880559.jpg)
Lucien Waléry/Wiki Commons, Louis Gadin/Wiki Commons, Eric Isselee/Shutterstock
John Quincy Adams’s Alligator
![Extreme Celebrity Pets JOHN QUINCY ADAMS' ALLIGATOR НЕ REPORTEDLY KEPT IT IN A WHITE HOUSE BATHTUB. After receiving it as a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette, it's been said that Adams often directed visitors to the gator bathroom as a prank, until it got so large that he just let it roam around the big house. CRACKED](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/5/4/7/880547.jpg)
George Peter Alexander Healy/Wiki Commons, Independent birds/Shutterstock