The cruel business of buying and selling lions

By Shahab Omar

On the 2nd of August this year, Lahore’s Safari Park Zoo announced that it was auctioning off 12 African Lions. The news garnered a lot of attention, particularly from animal rights groups that called out the auction and the trade of exotic animals that has run rampant in Pakistan over the years. The auction itself was completely legal, particularly since it was taking place among a select group of registered lion breeders in Punjab. But just because it was legal, does not make it right. You see, Pakistan has a lion problem. And the problem is that it is ridiculously easy for anyone to find and buy a lion cub on the market, raise it in their home, and then keep it as a pet in cruel conditions. The system by which these lions are bought and sold is painfully simple, and no laws exist to make owning these creatures that belong in the wild illegal. There are, of course, some official restrictions but they are easily circumvented. Essentially, lions are bred in an official capacity by breeders registered with the wildlife authorities and the FBR. These registered breeders raise and breed big cats like lions and tigers and then sell them ahead to anyone that wants to buy them. The law of the land requires that anyone buying these animals adheres to a specific set of SOPs, which includes having a certain amount of space to keep the animals in, and other such conditions. In practice, while the wildlife department claims they have agents constantly checking in on lion owners, these creatures are often kept in callous conditions. Owners that have nothing about their care and are afraid of the beasts remove their nails and teeth, giving them food that is not meant for them resulting in an incredibly poor life for these animals.

How to buy a lion

At the heart of this is the fact that it is legal to buy and sell these animals. The process is pretty simple. Take the recent sale of the animals at Safari Park. The animals were being sold at auction to registered breeders because the park had a surplus of animals that they could neither keep nor needed. The breeders would then use the animals to breed more cubs, which they would then sell at their farm houses or through brokers to regular people that want to keep them as pets.

Yes. It is that simple. You just need to walk into a breeder’s farmhouse, pay the money, and walk away with an endangered species of animal in the backseat of your car. These breeders run a largely unregulated business, but within the circle of breeders and zoos these animals have a closer eye on them. There are currently 10 breeders in Lahore that are registered, and they are selling lion cubs anywhere between Rs 400,00 to Rs 600,000.

Qaim Ali, a lion breeder based in Lahore, told Profit that the breeding and business of lions is becoming easier in Pakistan and now the practice of keeping this wild animal in homes has gained momentum.

“I have three African lions at my house, two females and one male. If I put the expenses in front, keeping them is definitely not a cheap hobby. A male lion needs to eat 10 kg of meat per day while a lioness eats five to seven kilograms of meat per day. In our country, people have started feeding milk and curd to cubs, which is not actually their food because it is a wild animal. Now, since inflation is high and their food is expensive, their prices in the local markets have also increased. They are sold in two ways in the local market. The buyer either buys it through a broker or directly from the farmhouse. We advise people that whenever a lion or its cub is purchased, it should be taken from the farm house. There are two reasons for this. First, buying directly from the farm house eliminates the broker’s profit. Secondly, a letter is also given to the buyer by the registered farmer under which he can keep this wild animal in his house, whereas brokers cannot give any such letter,” he said.

It is these brokers that he mentions that make things particularly difficult and cruel. When official breeders sell lions, those lions are chipped and registered which means they can be tracked. That means the wildlife department can run welfare checks on them. If the lion is not being treated according to SOPs, it is confiscated and the breeder and buyer both are fined. Of course, compliance with this is low. This is because most people do not buy directly from breeders and instead buy from middle-men. Even buying from breeders

is a morally dicey situation, and animals get treated poorly in the process, but with the brokers in the picture all rules and pretences are thrown out the window.

Qaim believed that people buy from brokers also because they cannot fulfil the SOPs of keeping this wild animal at home.“A tiger or lion cub is sold by a registered breeder only when the buyer has the space, cage and environment and can afford to feed the animal as per the guidelines laid down by the Wildlife Department whereas the broker does not consider any such SOPs. This is the reason why in many posh areas of Lahore, people have kept tigers and lions in the rooms of their houses or in small cages,” he said. “What people do not understand is that these animals cannot be tamed like a dog or a cat. That’s why some people get bored after keeping it for four to six months and then find another customer. However, this animal does not usually suffer from diseases like other pets. A lion cub that has fed its mother’s milk for three months, even if it gets sick, will fight the disease and get wellby its own immunity. In our country, people clip their nails and sometimes pull out their teeth, which may reduce their wild nature but doing so makes the animal more dangerous,” he concluded.

Why in the world are they so cheap?

In short, because there are a lot of them. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that there are about 5,000 big cats living in captivity around the US, although animal welfare experts say precise numbers are hard to find. That is compared to the roughly 3,900 wild tigers left in the world, experts estimate. Now, this is not just a trend in the US. While there are not 5000 big cats living in captivity in Pakistan, people have tended to want to keep these animals as pets. Because these animals are not protected by any laws, people get away with keeping them in putrid conditions and can get them for cheap. This is because of one main reason — there are too many lions in captivity and zoos and breeders like to keep their numbers high so their business can flourish. The earlier mentioned official, for example, admitted that when the number of these [lions] becomes large, space problems arise for them.The official also said that fourteen African Lions were sold two years ago but this time the intention was to auction them to increase their value. A highly credible official of the wildlife department informed Profit that the auction or sale could be held only if the animals are in surplus. “Now, if African lions are being auctioned, it is because they are in surplus. If we have a surplus, it means that breeding problems do not exist and anyway, breeding of lions has never been a problem with us whether we visit Lahore Zoo or Safari Park. Rather, we have always had a surplus of lions that have to be sold. We sold fourteen African lines two years ago and even then the reason for the sale was their surplus,” he said.

However, the said official also informed that there are currently 29 African lions, three white lions, six tigers and two jaguars in Lahore Zoo Safari and the facility of captive breeding of jaguars is only in the safari park.

When contacted, Director of Lahore Safari Zoo, Tanveer Janjua, informed Profit that the auction of 12 African lions on August 11 has been cancelled and now it has been decided that these animals may be shifted to another park.

“The auction was decided because the official rates of African lions are very low. At present, the official rate of an African lion is 150,000 rupees, while its price in the market is much higher. We were expecting that auctioning them would increase their value and one of our lions would sell for over a million rupees. Secondly, we have written to the government to revise their official rates, which may be revised soon. And at the new rates, an African lion is likely to be priced close to a million rupees. Their value is not determined by the wildlife department but by the Punjab government,” he maintained.

Janjua further informed that the main reason for deciding to auction them was the space issue but the new management decided to relocate them instead of selling them.

“We have these lions in surplus. Secondly, in this auction, these lions were to be sold only to wildlife breeders registered with the wildlife department. Documents of wildlife breeders, their farm houses and other formalities are checked by our field staff in different districts and then a NOC is issued to them. Now only the breeder who has this NOC can participate in the auction or we only sell him. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) guidelines are followed regarding suitable places to house the lion but what happened was that the documentation of those who were to come to us was not complete and this was also one of the reasons for not selling them. We had once before decided to sell African lions and even then, the decision was cancelled because the breeder’s documentation was not complete,” he added.

When Janjua was asked if it was legal for people who kept tigers in their homes, he replied that it is legal if one has proper documentation and is following SOPs and guidelines. “Our field staff is monitoring all such things. If any complaint is received from any place, action is taken against them. If someone has kept a tiger or its cub at home, we have taken the breeder from him. They check the certificate given by the breeder. If the certificate is there and the SOPs are not being followed, the breeder is also fined and sometimes the animal is also confiscated,” he says. Of course, compliance is low.

Lahore Zoo Deputy Director Kiran Salim informed Profit that the zoo also has African lions in the lions category but they have never been auctioned. “We have either sold African Lions in the past or shifted them to other parks only when they become surplus to us. If we talk about the procurement of lions, we got some African lions in donation from UAE in 2019 but we haven’t had to buy them for a long time. One of the main reasons for this is that we had lions in good numbers from the beginning and they are continuously breeding. About two years ago we sold some lions to Army Museum Gujranwala at official rates while four years ago we also sold African lions to Peshawar Zoo,” she said. When Kiran was asked whether the official rates are fixed keeping in view the international market rates, her reply was that fixing these rates and selling the animal is a complete process in which international rates cannot be followed. “For example, five years ago, the price of a giraffe in Africa was between $60 and $100. This rate was because of the online market but when it is procured, its value will cease to be.

Documentation must be completed by the vendor through whom the animal is procured then when the animal is imported, its price will not be the same as it was in the international market due to the addition of many separate costs. Similarly, some animals are priced very high in the international market but when we compare them with our official rates, our rates are very low. Here is an example of official rates for African lions,” she added. However, Kiran also informed that parks such as zoos or safari parks are providing inventory of surplus animals to the Punjab wildlife department on a regular basis. “Not every category of animal is on the surplus list, but only some animals and birds are sold or shifted elsewhere and only those animals are put in this surplus list. Apart from these specified animals, if any animal is surplus or available, it is not sold,” she concluded.

What should be done instead

This business, in short, is cruel. It is unfortunate that the trade of these animals is legal, when all of the resources and money being put into this business should instead be used to fund conservations of these precious creatures in the wild in their natural habitat n

NEWS ANALYSIS

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By the time this report was filed, the nation’s uncles have already complained to the nation’s parents that their good advice isn’t being taken seriously.

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“I’m just dreading bailouts and slimy superpowers like the US and China offering us money like some sort of cruel village moneylenders as things between them start heating up,” said local businessman Hanke de Silva. “An unsustainable war economy instead of our once-thriving tourism and agricultural exports.”

“Three-hour queues at petrol pumps…ugh…,” grimaced Rashid Khattak, a Peshawar-based journalist.

“Only 60% literacy…..ugh,” said Chaminda Tessera, one of the 92.8% literate Sri Lankans, while reading a newspaper.