Pet lion’s owners arrested after big cat attacks three people

Police in Pakistan have arrested the owners of a pet lion that attacked a woman and her three young children after it escaped.

Dramatic CCTV footage from the eastern city of Lahore showed how the big cat leapt over a concrete wall and chased the woman down as terrified onlookers ran for safety.

The woman and her children, aged five and seven, sustained injuries to their arms and faces but are now in stable condition, authorities said.

Police have accused the lion’s owners of keeping a wild animal without a licence and negligence leading to its escape. The lion was captured and moved to a wildlife park.

Big cats as pets are a status symbol in Pakistan, where it is legal to keep lions, cheetahs, tigers, pumas and jaguars after registering them and paying a one-time fee of 50,000 rupees ($176; £129) per animal.

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However, such cast must be housed outside city limits. Lahore, located in Punjab province, is Pakistan’s second-largest city.

The children’s father claimed that the lion’s owners stood by and watched as their pet clawed at his family on Wednesday. He said they did not do anything to restrain it.

The video showed the woman picking herself up then running back to seek help from onlookers, some of whom were seen running in panic.

Days after the incident, authorities in Punjab launched a crackdown on illegal wildlife possession. They have arrested five people and recovered 13 lions since.

In January, a Pakistani YouTube star was ordered to create animal welfare videos as punishment for illegally owning a lion cub.

Rajab Butt, who has 5.6 million subscribers, was presented the cub as a wedding gift.