A minor boy lost his arm after being attacked by a pet lion at a farm in the Sabzazar area of Lahore, in a second such incident in the city within a span of two days, the spokesperson of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital confirmed on Saturday.
According to police, the eight-year-old boy had gone near the lions’ cage while playing at the farm, adding that the incident occurred due to an unsafe cage and the owners’ negligence. The police added that the boy was shifted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
The authorities have arrested two individuals, Umar and Ali, responsible for the lion’s care.
“The boy was badly injured in the attack, and his arm had to be amputated,” the hospital’s spokesperson said. The child’s condition has improved since the arm was amputated, and he is out of danger now, the spokesperson added.
The incident followed a similar case reported on Thursday, when an eight-year-old girl was injured after being attacked by a pet lioness in Lahore’s Bhekewal Pind area.
The animal’s owners were later arrested, and the lioness was recovered. The child suffered injuries to her leg and ear and was immediately shifted to the hospital.
In July last year, the Punjab Wildlife Department had recovered 13 lions and arrested five people in a large-scale crackdown on illegal wildlife possession, after a pet lion escaped and injured three people in the provincial capital.
The crackdown against individuals keeping lions without valid licences had been initiated across the province on the directives of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
