LAHORE: Eighteen lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Pakistan’s Punjab region, authorities said on Monday 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 hospitalized after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.
The lion, which was kept without a license 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 fueled 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 license, without adhering to the required cage size, and without following other standard operating procedures,” Elahi said.
