New rules will make it illegal to keep certain dangerous animals as pets while other creatures will be strictly regulated.
Animals such as crocodiles, large felines and poisonous snakes - among them Cobras and the small but deadly Mambas - will be banned outright under proposed legislation being drawn up, sources have told The Times.
It is not yet clear how other exotic animals such as constrictor snakes, which can be dangerous when they reach a certain size, will be regulated.
The Resources Ministry confirmed that it is preparing an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act which should address a lacuna in the law through which these animals are not properly regulated. At the moment, as long as the animals are not listed as endangered in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), they can be kept as pets.
The proposed law will be discussed in Parliament but stakeholders are expected to be consulted beforehand. The move comes after the Animal Welfare Department earlier this month discovered a three-month-old Bengal tiger, one of the world's endangered species of large felines, in an air-conditioned room on the roof of a warehouse in Mosta.
Had the tiger not been on the endangered list there would be no law preventing its importation and rearing as a pet but it might still be perfectly above board if it is found to have been bred in captivity.
The authorities have not yet pronounced themselves on whether they plan to take any action over this case.
However, its discovery has shown up the gap that exists in the present legislation on animals.
The environment director of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, Martin Seychell, had told The Times that keeping dangerous animals posed a risk to the owner and possibly the public but there was little the authority could do about it.
Asked to react to the proposed blacklist of dangerous animals, Dr Seychell was cautiously optimistic.
"While I agree in principle, it might be difficult to have an exhaustive list of 'dangerous' animals. Many animals can be dangerous in certain circumstances," Dr Seychell said.
There was also the risk of allowing the importation of species that, while not dangerous to humans, could harm the ecosystem and create environmental problems, he added.