Pakistani authorities have launched a crackdown on the illegal keeping of lions as pets, following an incident in Lahore where a lion escaped and injured a woman and her two children.
Punjab province authorities confiscated 18 “pet” lions and eight people have been arrested for violating wildlife regulations, local media reported.
The crackdown, ordered by chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, included inspections of breeding farms and homes, where over 580 big cats are believed to be kept.
Last week, a lion kept illegally in a Lahore home attacked a woman and two children, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The animal was confiscated and relocated to a safari park, and its owner was later arrested, officials said.
CCTV footage showed a lion leaping over a boundary wall, pouncing on a woman, and then attacking two nearby children.
Mubeen Elahi, director general of the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department was quoted as saying by Dawn: “According to the new regulations for keeping big cats, no individual is allowed to keep a lion without a licence, without adhering to the required cage size and without following other standard operating procedures.”
Mr Elahi said that the punishment was up to seven years in jail.
“As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules,” he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week.
“There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab.”
In Pakistan, owning big cats like lions, cheetahs, tigers, pumas, and jaguars is seen as a status symbol and is legal, provided the animals are registered and a one-time fee of 50,000 Pakistani rupees (£129) is paid. Regulations, however, require that such animals be kept outside city limits.
In Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, a man alleged that on Wednesday, as the lion mauled his family, the owners stood by without intervening to stop the attack.
However, after last week’s episode, the Punjab government has acknowledged the urgent need to crack down on unlicensed lion ownership.
According to CNN, local media in Lahore reported that the lion’s owners lacked the required licence and now face prosecution under the Wildlife Act.
“We’ve also captured the lion and transferred it to wildlife authorities,” said Muhammad Faisal Kamran, the deputy inspector general of Lahore Police.
In January, Pakistani YouTuber Rajab Butt, who has more than five million subscribers, was ordered to produce animal welfare videos as punishment for illegally keeping a lion cub he received as a wedding gift.
He later said that he regretted accepting the cub and acknowledged that “keeping wild animals in such circumstances is inappropriate”.
“As a social media influencer, I should create positive content. I was not authorised to keep the lion cub, and by doing so, I set a wrong example,” he added at the time.
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