Living on the edge

This refers to the news report ‘Pet lion mauls 11-year-old boy in Gujarat’ (Jan 11). The severely injured boy was hospitalised, and the owner of the lion was arrested. This is not a one-off incident. Last year, a pet lion had attacked and injured a ten-year old boy in Karachi’s residential area ‘Gulberg’. There has been a growing trend in the affluent class, particularly of Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, and Gujarat, to keep wild animals like lions, tigers, and leopards, which are mostly imported, as pets. It has become a status symbol. It seems that there is no law in Pakistan to prohibit the possession of a wild and dangerous animal, which poses safety risks to other human beings.

The provincial wildlife department usually issues a permit that allows an owner to keep a wild animal in an enclosed space at a private zoo or a farmhouse with proper care and welfare. But these regulations are violated, and big cats are being kept at homes located in populous areas. Will the government ensure that the owners of wild animals are complying with the regulations?

Hussain Siddiqui

Islamabad