A man was arrested in Lahore for illegally kept an African lion without a license after the big cat escaped and ventured into a residential area, fauna officials said on Friday.
The Punjab fauna department, with the help of the local police, arrested in the Shah Di Khoi region. The lion has since been moved safely in a secure wild installation.
The escape, which occurred a day earlier, caused a widespread panic and led to at least three residents, according to the authorities. All the victims have received medical assistance and are in a stable state.
Adnan Work, the Deputy Wildlife Chief of Lahore, confirmed that the person had not obtained the required license and had not respected the security regulations.
“Keep wild animals in residential areas has serious risks and strict measures will be taken against these people,” he said.
The Wildlife Department has filed a case under the Punjab fauna law (protection, preservation, conservation and management). Officials said that the unauthorized possession of dangerous wild animals is an uncritical offense, supporting a sentence of up to seven years in prison and a fine of 5 million rupees.
The main Minister of Information and the Environment Maryam Aurangzeb condemned the incident and announced a repression on the scale of the province of illegal private property of exotic animals.
“We cannot allow anyone to compromise human life. The application of wildlife laws is an essential element of the environmental protection program of chief Maryam Nawaz, and no leniency will be demonstrated,” she said in a statement.
The authorities urged the public to point out the illegal possession of lions, tigers or other exotic wild animals by calling the line of wildlife assistance at 1107.
