The owners of a pet lion that escaped from a farmhouse and injured a woman and her two children have been arrested in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
The arrest comes after dramatic video footage surfaced showing the lion leaping over a wall before attacking the victims in a residential area.
The lion is seen jumping on the woman’s back and knocking her to the ground, while a man heroically rushed over to her in an attempt to scare the animal away.
The woman and her five and seven-year-old children sustained injuries to their faces and arms on Wednesday night when the lion escaped from its cage, police official Faisal Kamran said.
According to a police report, the children’s father told police that the lion’s owners stood by and watched as the animal clawed at his family, making no effort to restrain it.
He also told police that the owners were ‘amused to see their lion attack’.
All three victims were rushed to hospital but were not in critical condition.
The lion later returned to the owners’ farmhouse and was relocated to a wildlife park, police said.
Keeping exotic animals such as lions is considered a status symbol among some wealthy Pakistanis, despite the legal requirements and high fees associated with ownership.
In December 2024, an adult lion escaped from its enclosure in another neighbourhood of Lahore, terrorising residents before being shot dead by a security guard.
The incident prompted the provincial government to pass new laws regulating the sale, purchase, breeding and ownership of big cats.
The law now requires owners to obtain licenses for the animals which are barred from being kept in residential areas.
Breeders have to pay a hefty fee for registration, while farms have to be a minimum of 10 acres in size.