26+ Unusual Statement Pets of the Rich & Famous

Animal: Albino King Cobra
Estimated Cost: $150,000*

Owning a snake is not for the faint of heart, but Nicolas Cage isn’t afraid of a simple thing like a king cobra. In fact, there was a time when the actor owned not one, but two albino king cobras. The actor has spoken about his time with the pets on several occasions. 

Nicolas Cage - Albino King Cobras @DiscussingFilm / Twitter | @SUBBALAKSHMI SASTRY / Youtube.com

He told the New York Times, “I did have two king cobras, and they were not happy. They would try to hypnotise me by showing me their backs, and then they’d lunge at me.” The Ghost Rider star eventually ended up rehoming his beloved pets at a zoo. 

Animal: Alpacas
Estimated Cost: $3,000-$10,000*

Nicole Kidman has managed to amass quite the fortune over the course of her career. Reports estimate that the actress is worth an impressive $178 million, so what exactly does she spend that hard-earned cash on? 

Nicole Kidman - Alpacas @NicoleKidman / Instagram.com

She might have a few shiny cars and possibly even a Tesla to her name, but Kidman also has some unlucky belongings: like alpacas. The star has a sprawling estate in the Southern Highlands, Australia. There, she keeps six rather adorable alpacas which she calls the “coolest part” of her home. Kidman and her husband Keith Urban have clearly made good use of all that space.

Animal: Deer
Estimated Cost: Unknown

When it comes to buying deer, most of us might go to a supermarket, but there are people out there that prefer their game to live. Artist Frida Kahlo was an eccentric personality to say the least, but that’s what made her so charming. 

Frida Kahlo - Deer @DeerDefendersofOhio / Facebook.com

Frida adored her pet deer, Granizo, and often used it as the model for some of her paintings. It’s not the kind of pet you can pick up at a store and deer beds probably aren’t available on AMZ so you might want to think twice before going down that route.

Animal: Pot belly pig
Estimated Cost: $250+

Some actors pick up exotic pets and only have them for a few years, while others form a really deep bond with them. George Clooney’s relationship with his pot belly pig Max was something tabloids held onto for years. 

George Clooney - Pot Belly Pig @atchuup / Pinterest.com

The star had the pig for a whole 18 years before Max sadly passed away in the mid-noughties. Rumor has it that the Sony actor even took Max on a trip on John Travolta’s private jet. Some even say that Clooney broke up with girlfriends who took umbrage to Max walking into the master bedroom. 

Animal: Donkeys
Estimated Cost: $2,000-$3,000*

Reese Witherspoon isn’t one to do things by halves. She’s an actor, producer, writer – and she’s also a mom to three kids and two donkeys. Back in 2010, the actress appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and told Ellen that the family had just welcomed the pets into the fold. 

Reese Witherspoon - Donkeys @PRConsulting / @ReeseW / Twitter.com

“This year we got donkeys. They’re really cute,” explained the Disney star. “That’s Honky, and that’s Tonky. They’re actually miniature donkeys. They’re called donks. They’re docile and sweet. We have a friend who had one and we thought it was really cute.”

Animal: Anteater
Estimated Cost: $3,500-$8,000*

Artists aren’t often known for their shy and retiring personalities. Salvador Dali is up there with the best of them thanks to his famous melting clocks and impact on the art world. During his lifetime, Dali was photographed taking an anteater for a walk through the streets of Paris. 

©ondrejprosicky/stock.adobe.com

Many thought this was Dali’s new pet – after all, he had a pet ocelot at one point – but Dali didn’t actually own this strange creature. He had just borrowed it from a friend and decided to take it out for a breath of fresh air, but it still caused quite the stir. 

Animal: Wolf
Estimated Cost: $2,000+*

Kristen Stewart has had her fair share of being thrown to the wolves in recent years. She had a very highly-publicized fling with married director Rupert Sanders and probably won’t ever live down her turn in the Twilight franchise. 

Kristen Stewart - Wolf @eehurleey / Pinterest.com

Stewart might have acted alongside virtual wolves in the fantasy movie series, but her mom Jules gifted her with a real one when she turned 24. Apparently Kristen loves to cook for her wolf, which probably bodes well as they don’t sell kibble for this breed at Walmart. Kristen’s mom has owned wolves for years, so the species is a real family favorite.

Animal: Kangaroo
Estimated Cost: $2,000-$3,000*

The King of Rock n’ Roll had a sprawling mansion, some glorious cars, and some very expensive on-stage costumes. We all know Elvis had his fair share of struggles too, but before his untimely demise the King really did enjoy the finer things in life – including a kangaroo. 

©anekoho/stock.adobe.com

Booking agent Lee Gordon reportedly gifted the exotic jumping pet to the singer. While Elvis kept it for a little while, the logistics of owning such a pet meant that he ended up donating it to the Memphis Zoo. After all, kangaroos don’t exactly fall into the low-maintenance animal category. 

Animal: Llama
Estimated Cost: $2,000*

Hugh Hefner isn’t just a famous person of days gone by. He is part of American pop culture history. As the founder of Playboy, Hugh was well-known for hosting parties at the infamous Playboy Mansion. The mansion featured all sorts of incredible perks, including a zoo that Hugh had installed. 

@hughhefner/Instagram | ©Jeff McCollough/stock.adobe.com

Hugh owned llamas too and loved them. Sadly, after one big party one of the llamas didn’t make it out alive, leading to much media speculation. No one knows exactly what happened, but it certainly piqued the interest of the wider public and continues to be mentioned on sites like Google to this day. 

Animal: Lemurs 
Estimated Cost: $500 ($40-50k to maintain)*

If there’s one thing that the wider public might not know about Kirstie Alley, it’s that she really, really loves animals. The starlet has previously described herself as an “animal lunatic” but she doesn’t just mean she has a cat or three. 

@KristieAlly/Instagram | ©ptashkan/stock.adobe.com

In fact, Kirstie has a whopping 14 lemurs. In a 2016 interview she explained the strange decision, saying, “I started out having lemurs because they are a great animal, and I was very interested in conservation in Madagascar where they are from and saving rainforests and forests.” Alley hasn’t looked back since. 

Animal: Baby sharks
Estimated Cost: $1,000+*

Ice T doesn’t mess around when it comes to refurbishments. Way back in 1994, the rapper/actors decided it was high-time his Hollywood mansion had a facelift. Along with all the mod cons you might expect, Ice T decided to input a 3-foot-high baby shark tank. 

© I-Wei Huang/Adobe | lev radin/Shutterstock.com

It’s not every day you walk into a house and see a feature like this, so it likely made a good talking point for dinner parties. Depending on the breed, baby sharks can be very expensive. On top of that, you need to keep them fed and maintain the tank, which isn’t cheap.

Animal: Sulcata tortoise
Estimated Cost: $400*

What do you get the man that has everything, including his pick of women? A 38lb tortoise. In 2010, Leonardo DiCaprio decided that he had everything he could possibly need in life – besides a shelled companion. The actor bought the African tortoise for a reported $400. 

Leonardo Deicaprion - Sulcata Tortoise ©DFree / Shutterstock.com | @theguardian / Pinteres.com

According to media reports at the time, the Sony star asked for the biggest one on offer and walked away with his new pet happily in tow. These exotic animals aren’t just for Christmas. They can live up to 80 years old, which means that Leo’s tortoise could potentially outlive him. 

Animal: Chinchillas
Estimated Cost: $150-$350*

Queen of hospitality Martha Stewart has had her fair share of controversies that have rocked the boat, but she’s always been able to fall back on one constant: the love of a good chinchilla. The cookery star has owned over 15 chinchillas in her life. 

©brszattila/stock.adobe.com

Martha doesn’t just love the little balls of fluff, she’s also an avid dog lover as well, owning several pups. Clearly, Stewart is just a big fan of animals. At least these critters will always be well-fed and never short of a meal with Martha as their mom!

Animal: Chimpanzee
Estimated Cost: $12,500* 

King of Pop Michael Jackson may have been known for churning out hit after hit, but there’s no denying that the singer faced a lot of controversy in his life. Apart from the obvious, MJ was always a little bit eccentric. When Jackson bought Bubbles the chimpanzee from a Texas research facility in the ‘80s, the tabloids couldn’t get enough.  

@RetroFun/Twitter.com

Bubbles went everywhere with MJ and was treated to a taste of the high life. The super-intelligent chimp knew how to use a toilet and even slept in a crib. Unfortunately, when Bubbles matured he became too aggressive to keep as a pet and has been living at the Center for Great Apes in Florida since 2005.