CHONBURI – On January 25, 2024, two more lions were spotted in Chonburi province, Thailand, causing concern among locals. The incident occurred after a video went viral showing a foreigner driving a Bentley convertible with a lion cub through a busy street in Pattaya.
Residents in Moo 4, Huay Yai district, found two large lions roaming the streets of Soi Khao Ma Kok 13 before being led home by a caretaker.
Police officers from Huay Yai Police Station, the Tourist Police, and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation (DNP) responded to the incident and found that the two lions were pets at a house in Moo 4, Bang Lamung district. The lions were a male and a female, and there were also two Rottweilers in the house.
Miss Sky, 28, the lions’ owner, said she has had the two lions since they were about 45 days old. They were originally kept at Sattahip, but she brought them to this home six months ago. The lions are now about 10 months old and she keeps them with the dogs. She said the lions have never shown any aggression towards her or anyone else. She added that people can touch the lions when she is around.
She said the lions had escaped because the automatic gate to the property opened by itself. The caretaker quickly brought them back into the house and locked the gate to prevent it from opening again.
Miss Sky then showed the officers documents showing that she had obtained the two lions from a lion breeding farm. She also told the officers that she wanted to sell the lions back to the farm within the next two days.
The officials said they would carefully consider how to proceed with the case.
Kongkiat Temtamnan, Director of the Office of Conservation Area 2 (Sriracha), announced later the preliminary examination results: Both lions were implanted with microchip numbers, but only one of them matched. The other one does not match the document transferring the lion from the farm to the owner.
Furthermore, the lion was kept without permission, as the lion possession timetable requires anyone who owns a lion before October 18, 2022, to notify National Park Service officials by March 2023.
Since the owner has been in possession of the lions since December 29, 2022, she must have notified them immediately. But in this case, the owner hasn’t been notified. Therefore, it is considered an offence to possess controlled wild animals.
According to the Wildlife Act, officials were required to seize them. Then they’ll be housed in the Bang Lamung Wildlife Breeding Station. The veterinary team must first get the owner’s approval before loading the animal into the car.
In the Pattaya lion cub case, Prasert Sornsathapornkul, director of the DNP’s Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, announced on January 25 that officials have charged three people with possessing a controlled wildlife species without a permit.
The three individuals are Miss Pupe, the owner of the lion, Miss Albina, a Ukrainian national, the lion’s keeper and a Sri Lankan businessman who drives the car in the video. The charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine of 100,000 baht (about 2,700 dollars) or both.
The DNP also accused the owner of the farm, Mr. Kitt, of possessing a lion and moving it without permission. The charges carry a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a fine of 50,000 baht (about $1,350) or both.
“The lion cub is still in the house where it was found,” Prasert said. “It is being cared for by someone familiar with it until the investigation is complete. Then it will be returned to the farm.”
According to data from January 23, 2024, there are 38 people statewide who have reported owning 224 lions. There are 14 lions in Chonburi Province, with one owner claiming to own two of them for recreation; the remaining lions live on three farms and one zoo.
The DNP said it will expedite its inspections of all lion owners to ensure the lions are kept in safe and secure conditions.
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