Latest news with #bigcats
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
New home for Blob the bobcat after Welwyn welfare rescue
A bobcat threatened with euthanasia after its former owner was convicted of animal welfare charges has found a new, permanent the bobcat was the last of 23 big cats to be rehomed after the closure of the Cat Survival Trust in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, in May last teams at Hertfordshire Zoo and its sister site, the Big Cat Sanctuary in Ashford, Kent, rescued 28 animals after welfare concerns, but five had to be put down because of their poor health. Cam Whitnall, project lead at both sites, said: "Blob was the last one remaining, and we had to find him a home. Seven months on and we are able to welcome him to The Big Cat Sanctuary." He added: "The conditions that he was living in was just not adequate for a bobcat - it was really sad."We are really pleased to have him here, he is in great hands." Terrence Moore, 78, director of the Cat Survival Trust, was convicted of four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at St Albans Crown Court in May four animals were a male European wildcat called Hamish that had come from a zoo in Paris, a female Bengal cat named Jasmine, a jungle cat called Lily and a Caracal was also banned from keeping animals for five years and found guilty of seven charges of using an animal species for commercial gain without a other cats had been rehomed at the Kent sanctuary, including Frank, the UK's only Asian Golden Cat - Boson, a Fishing Cat - and Rhys, a Eurasian will be able to meet Blob for the first time during the sanctuary's annual open days from 24 to 27 July and 31 July to 3 August. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
7 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Big cat owners hide their animals amid Pakistani crackdown
The smell hanging in the air is the first sign there's something unusual about the farmhouse on the outskirts of one of Pakistan's largest cities, inside, the cause becomes clear: the property is home to 26 lions, tigers and cubs – and belongs to rain, he says, has turned the ground into the animals are "happy here", he insists. "When they see us, they come over, they eat... they're not aggressive."Almost instantly, one of the lions roars."That one is aggressive, it's his nature," Fayyaz says. Fayyaz loves big cats. From this facility – thought to be the largest of its kind in private hands nationwide – the 38-year-old has sold cubs and breeding pairs for the last 10 years. He is widely considered to be one of the biggest lion dealers in decades these animals – lions, tigers, pumas, cheetahs and jaguars – have been a sign of power, status and even political fealty in the country. The tiger, for example, is a symbol of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. More recently, with the dawn of short video social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, there's been a surge in ownership, with lions now sometimes even brought along to wedding in the wake of a pet lion escaping and attacking a woman and her two children as they walked down the street in Lahore, the government has launched a crackdown – one which is already impacting people like Fayyaz. Among the new rules, owners must pay a one-time registration fee of 50,000 Pakistani rupees ($176; £129) per animal and farms are to keep a maximum of 10 big cats from no more than two species. The sites must also be open to the public for new laws could result in a fine of up to 200,000 Pakistani rupees and, for the worst offenders, up to seven years in another property on the outskirts of Lahore, five lion cubs – their coats muddied – pace around a cage."But where are the parents?" a wildlife official asks there are several empty cages. Wildlife officials are here after receiving a tip-off that a man was holding lions and cubs without a licence, and was breeding them for sale illegally. By the time they arrived, the owner was missing, leaving his caretaker holding the bag."I was only hired two weeks ago," he complains, as he was placed in the back of a truck and taken away for questioning. The officials suspect the owner may have taken the cubs' parents away and hidden rescued cubs have now been transferred to a public zoo in Lahore, and isolated for medical in a country where big cats have been sold for decades, officials worry the raids are barely scratching the surface. They believe there are in fact hundreds, if not thousands, of undeclared big cats in the state of Punjab alone."This is going to take at least six months," Mubeen Ellahi, the director general of Wildlife & Parks, tells the BBC. He expects 30-40% of the lions in Punjab will not be voluntarily is also another complication. Mubeen explains inbreeding has become a common practice in Pakistan, and some big cats may have to be euthanised. "They have a lot of health problems. We are still considering the policy," he added. He pointed to another incident in December last year, when another lion escaped in Lahore, and was then shot and at Fayyaz's property, he is considering what to do official told the BBC they're dissatisfied with the size of the cages, and that the farm needs to convert itself into a zoo. Fayyaz now has three months to animal rights groups believe more needs to be done for these animals."We've been calling for sanctuaries, not zoos," Altamush Saeed told the BBC. He wants more transparency of the conditions inside the zoos, and for the government to properly address the problem of privately owning big cats."We need a systematic solution, not stopgaps."Additional reporting by Usman Zahid and Malik Mudassir
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
Pakistani authorities confiscating ‘pet' lions after woman and children attacked
Pakistani authorities have initiated a crackdown on the illegal keeping of lions as pets, following an incident in Lahore where an escaped lion injured a woman and two children. The crackdown, ordered by Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz, has led to the confiscation of 18 'pet' lions and the arrest of eight people for violating wildlife regulations. Inspections are underway at breeding farms and homes across Punjab province, where over 580 big cats are believed to be kept, with all farms scheduled for inspection by the end of the week. The recent attack involved a lion kept illegally in a Lahore home; the animal was confiscated and relocated, and its owner was arrested. New regulations in Punjab prohibit individuals from keeping lions without a licence, adherence to required cage sizes, and standard operating procedures, with penalties including up to seven years in jail.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- The Independent
Pakistan launches crackdown on ‘pet' lion ownership after woman mauled in Lahore street
Pakistani authorities have launched a crackdown on the illegal keeping of lions as pets, following an incident in Lahore where a lion escaped and injured a woman and her two children. Punjab province authorities confiscated 18 'pet' lions and eight people have been arrested for violating wildlife regulations, local media reported. The crackdown, ordered by chief minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, included inspections of breeding farms and homes, where over 580 big cats are believed to be kept. Last week, a lion kept illegally in a Lahore home attacked a woman and two children, who sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The animal was confiscated and relocated to a safari park, and its owner was later arrested, officials said. CCTV footage showed a lion leaping over a boundary wall, pouncing on a woman, and then attacking two nearby children. Mubeen Elahi, director general of the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department was quoted as saying by Dawn: '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.' Mr Elahi said that the punishment was up to seven years in jail. 'As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules,' he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week. 'There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab. ' In Pakistan, owning big cats like lions, cheetahs, tigers, pumas, and jaguars is seen as a status symbol and is legal, provided the animals are registered and a one-time fee of 50,000 Pakistani rupees (£129) is paid. Regulations, however, require that such animals be kept outside city limits. In Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, a man alleged that on Wednesday, as the lion mauled his family, the owners stood by without intervening to stop the attack. However, after last week's episode, the Punjab government has acknowledged the urgent need to crack down on unlicensed lion ownership. According to CNN, local media in Lahore reported that the lion's owners lacked the required licence and now face prosecution under the Wildlife Act. 'We've also captured the lion and transferred it to wildlife authorities,' said Muhammad Faisal Kamran, the deputy inspector general of Lahore Police. In January, Pakistani YouTuber Rajab Butt, who has more than five million subscribers, was ordered to produce animal welfare videos as punishment for illegally keeping a lion cub he received as a wedding gift. He later said that he regretted accepting the cub and acknowledged that 'keeping wild animals in such circumstances is inappropriate'. 'As a social media influencer, I should create positive content. I was not authorised to keep the lion cub, and by doing so, I set a wrong example,' he added at the time.
News.com.au
08-07-2025
- News.com.au
Lion escapes, mauls mum and kids
Wild video shows an escaped lion attacking a mother and her two children in the street — as its owner allegedly stood by and watched. The big cat escaped last week from a farmhouse in Lahore, Pakistan — before surveillance footage caught it leaping over a wall and running at a mum with her two kids, ages 5 and 7. The unidentified mum turned and tried to flee — just for the terrifying animal to leap on her back, clinging on as she fell to the ground. While some bystanders were seen rushing over to help the mom and kids as they were mauled, the lion's owner was there — but made no effort to help, according to a police report. The unidentified owner — who was arrested days later — made no effort to restrain the escaped beast, the attacked children's dad told police. The mum and her young kids suffered injuries to their faces and arms, but none are life-threatening, officials said. The lion was kept in the farmhouse without a license, Mubeen Elahi, Director General of the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department, told Dawn. '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 told the outlet, noting that illegal ownership was punishable by up to seven years. The director said farms in the region would be inspected by the end of the week, and that 18 big cats had already been confiscated in department raids. The lion was eventually relocated to a wildlife park, officials said. The woman and child did not suffer life-threatening injuries, according to the outlet
