There has been an increasing trend in Pakistan, especially within some elite circles, of keeping large felines at home as pets. A trend that initially might be attributed to the symbol of a lion on the party flag of PML-N today seems to transcend political affiliations. Numerous social media influencers have sprung up in the large urban cities of the country, boasting about their pet lions. Big cats have become a status symbol in Pakistani society, largely fuelled by hype spread through social media by their owners.
This sudden trend has come with its own set of challenges. Lions, by their nature, are wild animals and do not fare well in captivity. There has been an increase in freak incidents across the cities of the country, where these wild cats have turned aggressive against their owners and local citizens. In the most recently publicised incident, a pet lion escaped from its captivity, jumped over a wall, and attacked a woman and her two children who were walking on the street in the city of Lahore. Subsequent action by the Punjab police resulted in an additional eighteen lions being confiscated and led to raids across 38 lion and tiger breeding farms across the province.
Conservative estimates predict that there are around 600 registered lions and tigers kept as pets across homes and breeding farms in the province of Punjab. This trend of keeping wild cats as pets is not limited to Punjab alone, and a report as early as 2019 estimated that there were as many as 300 pet lions in the city of Karachi alone. While these numbers reflect the wild cats that are registered with the government, there are many more that remain unregistered.
For a sum of around $10,000, expert exporters can deliver a white lion to a client within 48 hours, and there are virtually no regulations related to the breeding of lions, which has resulted in numerous lion breeders springing up across the country
Even going by conservative estimates, Pakistan is likely home to at least 1,000 pet lions, most of which are housed in Lahore and Karachi. This would put the country in the top eight countries in the world in terms of lion population, behind Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia. While the top seven countries are the natural habitat for the lions, characterised by grasslands, savannas, and open woodlands, where these wild beasts have roamed for thousands of years, Pakistan finds itself in the top ten just on the basis of the local population’s enchantment with these wild cats.
Political hype around lions only helps exacerbate the issue of unregulated wild cats across the country. The title of “Sher-e-Punjab” (literally translated as “Lion of Punjab”) is often touted for the person who holds power in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab, which is generally the Chief Minister of the province. The equivalence of lions with political and social power in Pakistan makes them even more attractive as pets for people looking to flaunt their power and seeking to dominate their opponents. The lax import regulations and ineffective implementation of the law have resulted in lions lurking around in the gardens, rooftop cages, and farmhouses of major cities across the country. For a sum of around $10,000, expert exporters can deliver a white lion to a client within 48 hours, and there are virtually no regulations related to the breeding of lions, which has resulted in numerous lion breeders springing up across the country.
The land of Pakistan has historically not been native to lions, especially in such large numbers. The quest for a higher social status, fuelled by social media hype, has resulted in a large number of affluent citizens seeking to keep lions at their homes for the sake of political and social clout. This trend is dangerous, as these wild cats are hard to domesticate and need special facilities to sustain them. The summer heat of Lahore and Karachi presents a much different temperature than the savanna of Africa.
These wild cats are also a hazard for unassuming civilians who are at risk of being attacked by them in case they escape their captivity. It is hoped that Pakistani culture can work towards better goals for establishing higher social status, such as education, philanthropy, and public service, rather than useless and dangerous pursuits such as keeping expensive wild cats in unregulated and unsustainable residences in urban centres.