The Punjab Wildlife Department confiscated an African lion from the residence of a local feudal lord in Rawalpindi’s Gujar Khan city, it emerged on Monday.
The recovery was made during a raid in Gujar Khan’s Bewal area whereas a two-year-old big cat of African breed was illegally kept at a compound of the feudal lord.
The raid on a tip-off was led by Deputy Director Arfa Batool and Assistant Director Rizwana Aziz. A heavy contingent of the police from the Kallar Syedan Police Station also accompanied the operation team.
The officials said that a search warrant was obtained from the local court prior to the raid. The lion was safely shifted after a veterinary doctor on-site administered a tranquiliser to sedate the big cat.
The wildlife authority also confirmed that a case would be registered at the local police station against the individual responsible for illegally keeping the animal.
It further stated that the lion’s owners were currently residing in the United Kingdom, whereas, the individual’s workers and their families were present in the compound.
In a separate crackdown, 18 lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Punjab, authorities told Reuters as they launched a crackdown after one escaped from a house and attacked a woman and two children.
The woman suffered scratches and bruises, and the two children, aged five and seven, were hospitalised after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.
The lion, which was kept without a licence in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park, said Mubeen Elahi, director general of the provincial Wildlife and Parks Department. The owner was later arrested, police said.
Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fuelled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols.
“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,” Elahi said.
The punishment is up to seven years in jail.
As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the authority raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules, he said, adding that all farms would be inspected by the end of this week.
There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab, he said.
“I know plenty of people who keep big cats as pets,” said Qaim Ali, 30, who himself had a lion but sold it after it attacked his nephew.
“Most of them are not interested in breeding but keep them as a symbol of power and influence in society.”
