Pet lion owners arrested in Pakistan after attack
Pakistan police have arrested the owners of a pet lion after the animal escaped and attacked a woman and her young children. CCTV footage from the city of Lahore showed the big cat leaping over a concrete wall, before chasing the woman as onlookers ran for safety.
The woman and her children, aged five and seven, suffered injuries to their arms and faces but, according to authorities, are now in stable conditions. The owners of the pet lion have been accused by police of keeping a wild animal without a license, as well as negligence that led to it escaping. The animal has since been captured and moved to a wildlife park.
According to the BBC, keeping big cats as pets can be a status symbol. It is legal to keep a pet lion, cheetah, tiger, or jaguar, after paying a one-time fee of 50,000 rupees or £129 per animal. But these animals must be kept outside city limits. Lahore, in Punjab province is the second-largest city in Pakistan.
The father of the children said that the animal’s owners stood by and watched while the lion clawed at his family. They did nothing to restrain it, he said. Video footage showed the woman picking herself back up before running to seek help from onlookers, many of whom were also fleeing.
In the days following the incident, Punjab authorities began a crackdown on illegal wildlife, having arrested five people and recovered more than a dozen lions. In January, a youtuber was ordered to create an animal welfare video after being found to illegally own a lion cub, presented to him as a wedding gift.
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