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News.com.au
29-07-2025
- News.com.au
'Absolute madness': Thailand's pet lion problem
Behind a car repair business on a nondescript Thai street are the cherished pets of a rising TikTok animal influencer: two lions and a 200-kilogram lion-tiger hybrid called "Big George." Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers. "They're playful and affectionate, just like dogs or cats," he told AFP from inside their cage complex at his home in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Thailand's captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes. Experts warn the trend endangers animals and humans, stretches authorities and likely fuels illicit trade domestically and abroad. "It's absolute madness," said Tom Taylor, chief operating officer of conservation group Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. "It's terrifying to imagine, if the laws aren't changed, what the situation is going to be in 10 years." The boom is fueled by social media, where owners like Tharnuwarht post light-hearted content and glamour shots with lions. "I wanted to show people... that lions can actually bond well with humans," he said, insisting he plays regularly with his pets. He entered Big George's enclosure tentatively though, spending just a few minutes being batted by the tawny striped liger's hefty paws before retreating behind a fence. Since 2022, Thai law has required owners to register and microchip lions, and inform authorities before moving them. But there are no breeding caps, few enclosure or welfare requirements, and no controls on liger or tigon hybrids. Births of protected native species like tigers must be reported within 24 hours. Lion owners have 60 days. "That is a huge window," said Taylor. "What could be done with a litter of cubs in those 60 days? Anything." - Illicit trade - Taylor and his colleagues have tracked the rise in lion ownership with on-site visits and by trawling social media. They recorded around 130 in 2018, and nearly 450 by 2024. But nearly 350 more lions they encountered were "lost to follow-up" after their whereabouts could not be confirmed for a year. That could indicate unreported deaths, an animal removed from display or "worst-case scenarios", said Taylor. "We have interviewed traders (in the region) who have given us prices for live and dead lions and have told us they can take them over the border." As a vulnerable species, lions and their parts can only be sold internationally with so-called CITES permits. But there is circumstantial evidence of illicit trade, several experts told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering authorities. Media reports and social media have documented lions, including cubs, in Cambodia multiple times in recent years, though CITES shows no registered imports since 2003. There is also growing evidence that captive lion numbers in Laos exceed CITES import licences. In Thailand, meanwhile, imports of lion parts like bones, skins and teeth have dropped in recent years, though demand remains, raising questions about how parts are now being sourced. Thai trader Pathamawadee Janpithak started in the crocodile business, but pivoted to lions as prices for the reptiles declined. "It gradually became a full-fledged business that I couldn't step away from," the gregarious 32-year-old told AFP in front of a row of caged cubs. She sells one-month-olds for around 500,000 baht ($15,500), down from a peak of 800,000 baht as breeding operations like hers increase supply. Captive lions are generally fed around two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of chicken carcasses a day, and can produce litters of two to six cubs, once or twice a year. Pathamawadee's three facilities house around 80 lions, from a stately full-maned nine-year-old to a sickly pair of eight-day-olds being bottle-fed around the clock. They are white because of a genetic mutation, and the smaller pool of white lions means inbreeding and sickness are common. Sometimes wrongly considered a "threatened" subspecies, they are popular in Thailand, but a month-old white cub being reared alongside the newborns has been sick almost since birth. It has attracted no buyers so far and will be unbreedable, Pathamawadee said. She lamented the increasing difficulty of finding buyers willing to comply with ownership rules. "In the past, people could just put down money and walk away with a lion... Everything has become more complicated." - Legal review - Pathamawadee sells around half of the 90 cubs she breeds each year, often to other breeders, who are increasingly opening "lion cafes" where customers pose with and pet young lions. Outside Chiang Mai, a handler roused a cub from a nap to play with a group of squealing Chinese tourists. Staff let AFP film the interaction, but like all lion cafes contacted, declined interviews. Pathamawadee no longer sells to cafes, which tend to offload cubs within weeks as they grow. She said several were returned to her traumatised and no longer suitable for breeding. The growing lion population is a problem for Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), admitted wildlife protection director Sadudee Punpugdee. "But private ownership has existed for a long time... so we're taking a gradual approach," he told AFP. That includes limiting lion imports so breeders are forced to rely on the domestic population. "With inbreeding on the rise, the quality of the lions is also declining and we believe that demand will decrease as a result," Sadudee said. Already stretched authorities face difficult choices on enforcing regulations, as confiscated animals become their responsibility, said Penthai Siriwat, illegal wildlife trade specialist at WWF Thailand. "There is a great deal of deliberation before intervening... considering the substantial costs," she told AFP. Owners like Tharnuwarht often evoke conservation to justify their pets, but Thailand's captive lions will never live in the wild. Two-year-olds Khanom and Khanun live in a DNP sanctuary after being confiscated from a cafe and private owner over improper paperwork. They could survive another decade or more, and require specialised keepers, food and care. Sanctuary chief vet Natanon Panpeth treads carefully while discussing the lion trade, warning only that the "well-being of the animals should always come first". Big cat ownership has been banned in the United States and United Arab Emirates in recent years, and Thailand's wildlife rules are soon up for review. Sadudee is hopeful some provisions may be tightened, though a ban is unlikely for now. He has his own advice for would-be owners: "Wild animals belong in the wild. There are plenty of other animals we can keep as pets."
News.com.au
05-06-2025
- News.com.au
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan says Adelaide is the AFL's ‘benchmark' team
They are the reigning AFL premiers and sitting pretty in second spot on the ladder, but the Lions will be the 'underdogs' in Friday night's battle with the Crows at Adelaide Oval. That's the verdict from Brisbane coach Chris Fagan, who said the in-form Adelaide would start as favourites. The Crows, who are six points adrift of Brisbane, have won four of their past five games and are coming off a 90-point thrashing of Sydney, last year's beaten grand finalists. 'Big crowd there, mostly South Australians barracking for the Crows, hostile environment, playing a team that's in great form … I think we'll go in as underdogs, which suits us down to the ground,' Fagan said. 'We're looking forward to the opportunity. We always like to test ourselves out, and they're probably the benchmark team in the competition at the moment, so we'll give it our best shot and see how we go.' Fagan said the Lions were still searching for ways to improve despite having lost only two of their 12 games this season. 'All you are trying to do in the home and away season is win enough games to qualify for finals, and then hopefully what you can do is be at your best when the finals arrive,' he said. It's no Norwood Oval but it'll do. — Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) June 5, 2025 That was the case for the Lions last year, who after an early struggle finished fifth on the ladder, leading to them needing four successive wins in the finals series to claim the premiership. 'There's some narrative around us that maybe we're not going so well as we were last year, but I think people have forgotten how hard last year was and they're just judging us on how we went in the grand final (a 60-point win over the Swans), which was reasonably exceptional, and doesn't happen too often,' Fagan said. 'We're happy to be where we are. We were a mile away from this at the same stage last year, so we've just got to keep going and keep trying to improve.' The Lions have made one change to the 23 that beat Essendon by 18 points last week, with 19-year-old forward Ty Gallop to make his AFL debut. Gallop will replace Darcy Gardiner, who will miss the match with 'general soreness'. First-choice ruckman Oscar McInerney will be given another week off as he manages a back injury and other ailments. It will be the fourth successive game McInerney has missed, but he has again been named among the emergencies. Premiership-winning ruckman Darcy Fort will again fill the void left by McInerney. 'Darcy Fort's been doing a great job for us,' Fagan said.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Wallabies legend reveals why he turned down Lions invite
Former Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper admits time has caught up with him after turning down the opportunity of a final playing farewell against the British and Irish Lions. Hooper was invited to play for the combined Australian and New Zealand XV against the Lions in Adelaide, but told Stan Sport's Inside Line podcast he felt his body was no longer up to the rigours of facing the world's best players. This masthead reported earlier this week that Hooper would not feature in the game, after the former Wallabies captain finished his eight-game stint with Japanese side Toyota Verblitz last month. 'I've played the Lions before, I know that they're a week out from a three-game Test series, and it's getting pointy end of that tour, and you've got probably a fully-fit starting team who's going to play against the Wallabies a week later, champing at the bit, battle-hardened,' Hooper said. 'And I looked at myself and I thought, 'Well, I've had a good time in Japan, they pour a good Asahi [beer], they make a nice rice ball at the local conveni [convenience store]. 'I'm about eight weeks to 10 weeks out of being battle-hardened, not in a Test environment. So I'd have to come home now, train by myself, maybe try and get a run for Manly – which would have been cool as well – but come up against those [Lions] guys in a team that you pulled together for a week. 'As a young guy? Perhaps two years, four years, five years, six years ago – oh my God, how good. 'As an almost 34-year-old who made a fleeting comeback? No, it didn't sound like a game that would be a fairytale ending for me. Not that I was ever after a fairytale ending.'
