THREE dangerous wild animal licences are currently in force across Dorset, figures reveal.

Licences are required if a person wants to keep animals considered potentially dangerous.

While some animal lovers may be content with a goldfish, others choose to keep anything from wild dogs and cats to primates and marsupials.

Licences are issued by local authorities.

Currently, there are licences for one caiman - a large aquatic reptile related to alligators - and for 14 wild boar in West Dorset.

In Purbeck there is a licence for four wild boar and 30 sows.

There are no licences currently in force in Weymouth and Portland, North Dorset, East Dorset, Poole or Bournemouth.

But over the border in South Somerset, there are licences for one zebra, 20 bison, 100 wild boar and three camels and in East Devon licences have been issued for one ostrich, four lemurs.

The figures were revealed as one licence holder has warned prospective owners to ensure they properly educate themselves before purchasing a predator.

Iain Newby, from Essex, claims to have kept almost every deadly animal there is under his roof at various stages in the past 20 years.

Starting with an 8ft alligator called Rolex in the 1990s, to a house full of wild cats such as servals and Savannahs in 2016, the 49-year-old has helped care for a wide variety of creatures through rescue work.

His body bears the scars of his years of experience handling unorthodox tenants - with 642 stitches, largely from playful big cat cubs.

He said: "Educate yourself about the animal you want to take on, not only on the animal itself but what is required to care for the animal."