'Love is tough': Affluent Pakistanis increasingly keep, then abandon, exotic pet lions

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Updated 16 July 2022
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'Love is tough': Affluent Pakistanis increasingly keep, then abandon, exotic pet lions

  • Owners would previously gift lions to Lahore Zoo but authorities now refusing to take in more due to overcrowding
  • Lion cubs could fetch more than $2,500 a few years ago, now former lion owners say hard to get one fourth of that amount

LAHORE: When Jaun Shah bought Gabbar in 2021, he was a cute, one-month-old African lion cub who loved to play and cuddle with his new companion.

But as the animal grew older and bigger, Shah came face to face with a painful reality: raising a lion was no easy task.

Gabbar, whom Shah had named after an iconic Bollywood villain, had begun to play the part. At one point, he almost chewed off his owner’s shoulder during playtime and Shah and his helpers increasingly became afraid to go near him or into his cage.

Fourteen months after Shah had bought Gabbar for around $4,000, he gave up on trying to raise him and sold the lion off to a local housing society zoo.

“Love is tough, especially when it comes to a full-grown African lion,” Shah told Arab News. “I was wary of the violent tendencies these sublime brutes can develop but I thought we were doing just fine.”

“You can keep a cub until it’s seven eight months old but after that it just grows bigger with every passing day and a 200kg beast is not for any ordinary person to handle.”




This undated photo former lion owner Jaun Shah posing with a lion. (Jaun Shah)

He added wistfully: “Gabbar’s intentions weren’t deadly, he was just excited, mostly.”

Shah is one of several affluent Lahore residents Arab News interviewed, who had bought lions as pets in recent years and then abandoned them after being unable to provide the special care they require and realizing that raising them was both hard and dangerous. Many sold the animals to other private owners, while some approached small housing society zoos.

Unfortunately, the housing society that bought Gabbar was also now looking to rehome him — without much luck, Shah said.

“OUT OF SPACE”

In the past, owners were able to gift their pet lions to the Lahore Zoo after they got tired of them but zoo authorities are now refusing to take in more animals on account of overcrowding.

Kiran Saleem, a deputy director at the Lahore Zoo, said there was no space at the establishment to accommodate more lions.

“We are out of space, we cannot even accommodate the ones rescued by the wildlife department from illegal possession or which were kept in deplorable conditions,” she told Arab News. “In fact, some cages dedicated to tigers and panthers are also occupied by lions at the Lahore Zoo.”

The situation became especially hard to manage after the Lahore Zoo received 10 tigers and eight lions as a gift from the UAE government in 2019, which Saleem said were sent to different zoos across Punjab.

The Lahore Zoo currently houses 26 lions while the city’s Safari Park has 40. The capacity at both facilities is 18 and 34, respectively. The number of surplus lions at 21 parks and zoos across Punjab is more than 20, Saleem said.

An auction scheduled for March 15 to sell surplus lions at these facilities never took place due to lack of interest from buyers, even though the opening bid was kept at Rs 150,000 — much lower than the market price of an adult lion.

Until a few years ago, a lion cub could fetch more than half a million rupees or $2,500. Now, it was hard to get even a quarter of that, previous lion owners said.

Badar Munir, chairman of the Taskforce on Forests and Wildlife Punjab, said: “We have kept the opening bid low knowing that there aren’t many people who would be interested in buying while the market is already high on supply.”

A second auction would be held soon, he said, but the date had not yet been set.

Meanwhile, lion owners who want to give up their animals are struggling to find takers, particularly as few want a pet that is so expensive to feed and house.

“It’s an expensive pet to keep simply,” Syed Imdad Shah, a businessman who has been breeding lions for the past several years, told Arab News. “It consumes 4-5kg meat a day and you have to hire a vet full time.”




The picture posted on May 16, 2021 shows Syed Imdad Shah (second left) posing with a lion in Lahore, Pakistan. (Syed Imdad Haider/Facebook)

A lion owner also needs to spend generously on vitamins and medicines for the pet and appoint a caretaker. If you want to keep a lion as a pet, the businessman said, you should be willing to spend up to $2,500 a month. 

Dr. Rizwan Khan, a veterinary doctor hired by several lion keepers in Lahore, said a lack of behavioral therapy for lions in Pakistan was another reason owners were unable to handle them and often gave them up.

“Lions and tigers go through violent mood swings because of many reasons, including separation anxiety,” the vet told Arab News. “They may seem fearless but they also go through fears and phobias. Some common ones are thunderstorms, crowds, veterinarian visits, car rides and loud noises, and generalized anxiety, typically due to a lack of socialization.”

“TRADE IN BODY PARTS”

Why then do some people still want to keep lions as pets?

“Most of them are those who want to portray a macho image for themselves, flaunt their wealth, while there are some who have kept lions just because it is the election symbol of a political party they support,” Syed, the businessman, said, referring indirectly to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Some even consider the fat of a lion an aphrodisiac, he added, laughing.

Animal rights advocate Uzma Khan, who works for the World Wildlife Fund, said lions in Pakistan were also coveted due to illegal trade in body parts.

A 2016 WWF report titled ‘An Assessment of the Scale of Illegal Wildlife Trade in Pakistan’ says the Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces are top markets for the sale of lions in the country.

The report said the wholesale price of an African lion’s hide was Rs70,000 ($350), while pendants and lockets carved out of lion teeth and claws could fetch thousands of dollars. Hakeems, or local physicians, also used lion fat in medicines meant to relieve muscular and joint pains.

Once you bring the animals into the country, there is no check and balance on their sale, WWF’s Khan said. A set of guidelines issued in 2011 by the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife, the closest to a regulatory regime in Pakistan, had no legal value, she added.

“So where do all these body parts come from? Obviously from dead animals but no one has data on lions who died and how?” she told Arab News. “Autopsies are performed on animals which die at zoos or parks but none are done when it comes to individuals or companies [who own lions].”

Khan lamented the lack of rescue centers for abandoned lions and the fact that authorities were not controlling the growing lion numbers through contraceptives and neutering.

“Breeding big cats is not rocket science. They breed easily, and within a couple of years, their numbers have increased to the extent that we cannot help the unwanted ones,” the animal rights activist said.

She says she had advised authorities on numerous occasions to put lions at zoos on contraceptives or neuter them.

“These methods are used worldwide to control over-population in captivity. I don’t know why we can’t do it here,” she said.

“FEEL BAD FOR MY ANIMAL”

For now, lion enthusiasts warn that often what is mistaken for violent tendencies, and which lead owners to give them up, are just the lions being playful.

“It’s not for the faint hearted to keep lions as pets,” enthusiast Usman Khan said. “When lions are being playful, they jump on you, cuddle with you, but in their own way. Most people get terrified by this playfulness but you have to be lion-hearted yourself to keep a lion, otherwise please don’t.”




The photo posted on April 5, 2020 show Usman Khan holding a cub in Pakistan. (usmanbullet_/instagram)

Khan advised lion keepers not to be afraid when a playful lion bit or hugged them “because if you do try to pull away it will further clench and you will get hurt.”

“Just let it be, it will loosen up the bite,” he said. “Better still, put something bitter on your arms before playing with it. They’re repelled by the taste and won’t probably try to bite you again, even during play.”

But Shah, the past owner of Gabbar, said he still has a hard time getting over his fears. Though he still visits his former pet at his new home at the housing society, he now only watches from a distance.

“It still gets excited to see me but I cannot cuddle it, nor can I stay there for long,” he said. “I feel bad for my animal.”


Pakistan closes pedestrian traffic at key Iran border crossings as Israel strikes escalate

Updated 15 June 2025
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Pakistan closes pedestrian traffic at key Iran border crossings as Israel strikes escalate

  • The closures affect the Taftan crossing in Chaghi district and the Gabd-Rimdan crossing in Gwadar district
  • Both are key rotes for cross-border movement, local trade in Pakistan’s Balochistan province

QUETTA: Pakistani authorities have closed two major border crossings with Iran for pedestrian traffic amid escalating cross-border strikes between Iran and Israel, officials in the southwestern Balochistan province said on Sunday.

The closures affect the Taftan crossing in Chaghi district and the Gabd-Rimdan crossing in Gwadar district, both key routes for cross-border movement and local trade between Balochistan and Iran. 

The Gabd-Rimdan border crossing is a point on the Iran-Pakistan border, specifically at “BP-250,” the second crossing along the 900-kilometer border between the two countries. The crossing facilitates trade and people-to-people contact between Iran and Pakistan.

“All kinds of pedestrian movement at the Gabd-Rimdan-250 border have been suspended due to the Iran-Israel conflict,” Jawad Ahmed Zehri, assistant commissioner for Gwadar, told Arab News.

Trade activity at the crossing would remain open and Pakistani citizens stranded in Iran would be allowed to return, he said, but no new entries into Iran would be permitted through this point until further notice.

In a separate order, authorities also closed the Taftan border crossing in Chaghi district for pedestrian traffic.

“We have closed pedestrian movements at the Taftan border until further notice,” said Naveed Ahmed, assistant commissioner for Taftan, adding that trade and customs operations from the crossing were continuing as usual.

The closures are expected to affect daily wage laborers, small-scale traders and local residents who depend on frequent cross-border movement for commerce, supplies and family visits.

Small items such as fruit, vegetables and household goods are commonly traded by hand or in small vehicles along these routes.

The closures come amid heightened tensions following Israeli strikes on Iranian cities since Friday with scores killed, including senior Iranian military commanders.

The bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Iran reached $2.8 billion in the last fiscal year, which ended in June. Both countries have signed a memorandum of understanding with the aim of increasing this volume to $10 billion.

Iran also supplies about 100 megawatts of electricity to border towns in Balochistan.


Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan

Updated 15 June 2025
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Trump says can broker Iran‑Israel peace using trade as he did with India‑Pakistan

  • Trump’s reference to India and Pakistan pertains to military confrontation which ended with US-facilitated ceasefire on May 10
  • Iranian officials report at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s military onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he could use American trade leverage to broker a peace deal between Iran and Israel, drawing a parallel to his administration’s role in facilitating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan last month.

The renewed conflict saw Iran and Israel exchanging missile and drone strikes over the past three days.

Iranian officials report at least 138 people have been killed in Israel’s onslaught since Friday, including 60 on Saturday, half of them children, when a missile brought down a 14-story apartment block in Tehran. Israel has reported at least 13 deaths.

“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal, just like I got India and Pakistan to make,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In that case by using TRADE with the United States to bring reason, cohesion, and sanity into the talks with two excellent leaders who were able to quickly make a decision and STOP!”

Trump’s reference to India and Pakistan pertains to a brief military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in May, which ended with a US-facilitated ceasefire on May 10. Washington said trade and security assurances were key to the de-escalation.

He also cited other conflicts, between Serbia and Kosovo, and disputes over the Nile dam involving Egypt and Ethiopia, saying his interventions helped maintain peace “at least for now.”

“Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!” Trump added. “Many calls and meetings now taking place.”

Since Friday, Pakistan’s government has repeatedly pledged solidarity with Iran but urged its citizens to postpone travel to Iran and Iraq until the security situation improves. 

On Saturday, Islamabad issued a formal travel advisory asking Pakistanis to avoid travel to Iran “for a limited period” due to the Israeli attacks.

Pakistan has also condemned the Israeli strikes, calling them an unjustified violation of Iranian sovereignty, and has urged the international community to help de-escalate tensions through dialogue.


Two police officers killed, two wounded in ambush in Pakistan’s Balochistan province

Updated 15 June 2025
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Two police officers killed, two wounded in ambush in Pakistan’s Balochistan province

  • Attack, claimed by BRA separatists, took place late on Saturday in Sui, mountain town about 50km from Dera Bugti city
  • Police were ambushed after they had rushed to the area in two vehicles to respond to reports of a grenade explosion

QUETTA: Two police officers were killed and two others injured when gunmen ambushed a police patrol in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said on Sunday. 

The attack took place late on Saturday in Sui, a mountainous town about 50km from Dera Bugti city where police had rushed to respond to reports of a grenade explosion.

Jalab Khan, station house officer at Sui Police, said officers were traveling in two vehicles when they were ambushed.

“Nearly a dozen armed men were hiding behind a large rock and attacked our vehicles with heavy gunfire, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades,” Khan told Arab News.

“Two policemen were killed on the spot and two sustained bullet wounds,” he said, adding that the attackers fled under the cover of darkness.

The Baloch Republican Army (BRA), an ethnic Baloch separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack. The BRA has been involved in multiple attacks on security forces and gas infrastructure in Dera Bugti, one of Pakistan’s key natural gas-producing districts.

The group emerged after the killing of veteran Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti during a military operation in 2006.

Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is a mineral-rich region that is home to Beijing’s investment in the Gwadar deep water port and other projects. It is Pakistan’s largest province by size but smallest by population and the most impoverished. It has long been the site of a separatist insurgency by groups like the BRA, who are fighting for independence.

Pakistan accuses neighboring India and Afghanistan of supporting Baloch separatist militants, a claim they deny. Islamabad also says neighboring Iran does not do enough against militants operating on their shared border. 

“The slain policemen were local residents of Dera Bugti and their bodies have been handed over to families for burial,” said Atta Tareen, the district police officer for Dera Bugti.

A first information police report hasd been registered and Balochistan’s Counter Terrorism Department was leading the investigation, Tareen added.


Bitcoin pioneer Michael Saylor holds ‘landmark’ talks with Pakistan Crypto Council officials

Updated 15 June 2025
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Bitcoin pioneer Michael Saylor holds ‘landmark’ talks with Pakistan Crypto Council officials

  • Pakistan set up PCC in March to create legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in bid to lure international investment
  • Michael Saylor, bitcoin advocate and billionaire US business executive, speaks to Pakistani ministers for finance, crypto

KARACHI: Pakistani officials held a “landmark discussion” this week with Michael Saylor, bitcoin advocate and billionaire US business executive, on using digital currencies to strengthen Pakistan’s financial resilience and its digital economy, according to a statement released on Sunday. 

Pakistan set up the Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) in March to create a legal framework for cryptocurrency trading in a bid to lure international investment. In April, Pakistan introduced its first-ever policy framework to set rules for how digital money like cryptocurrencies and the companies that deal in it should operate in Pakistan. The policy has been formulated to align with compliance and financial integrity guidelines of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Last month, the government approved setting up the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), a specialized regulatory body to oversee blockchain-based financial infrastructure, and separately also unveiled the country’s first government-led strategic bitcoin reserve at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.

Talks this week between Saylor and Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Minister of State for Crypto and Blockchain Bilal Bin Saqib focused on how bitcoin could be used as part of sovereign reserves and monetary policy.

“Pakistan aspires to lead the Global South in the development and adoption of digital assets, setting a benchmark for innovation, regulation, and inclusive growth in the digital economy,” Finance Minister Aurangzeb, who is the chairman of the PCC, was quoted as saying in a statement released by Saqib’s office.

Saylor, one of the world’s most prominent corporate bitcoin investors, welcomed Pakistan’s move to explore digital assets, the statement added.

“Pakistan has many brilliant people. It also has commitment and clarity needed by businesses globally … Bitcoin is the strongest asset for long-term national resilience,” Saylor said during the meeting, according to the statement, adding that emerging markets like Pakistan could benefit from early adoption of blockchain finance.

Saylor also reportedly praised Pakistan’s efforts to take a “forward-looking, innovation-friendly stance” in the global digital economy and welcomed the opportunity to advise and support ongoing developments in the country related to digital assets. 

Saylor’s company, Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, is the world’s largest corporate holder of bitcoin, reportedly holding about 582,000 BTC valued at over $62 billion as of June 2025. The company’s market capitalization has risen from $1.2 billion to over $105 billion since it adopted bitcoin as a core asset in 2020.


Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

Updated 15 June 2025
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Pakistan forms committee to tackle possible economic fallout of Israel-Iran conflict — adviser

  • Oil prices jump 7 percent on fears of disrupted Middle East exports
  • Analysts warn of economic and security risks for Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a high-level committee led by the finance minister to monitor any possible economic impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, a senior government adviser said on Sunday, as rising oil prices threaten to add new pressure on the South Asian nation’s fragile economy.

Oil prices have climbed about 7 percent since Friday, with Brent crude closing at $74.23 a barrel after hitting a session high of $78.50, amid fears of supply disruptions if Middle East tensions escalate further.

“The prime minister has constituted a committee under the supervision of the finance minister, which will monitor the situation,” Khurram Schehzad, an adviser at the finance ministry, told Arab News.

“The committee will assess the impact of the changes and volatility in oil prices on fiscal and external sides, and devise a strategy to pacify the impacts on Pakistan’s economy.”

Pakistan relies heavily on imported oil, and any sustained spike in prices could widen its current account deficit and push inflation higher at a time when the country is struggling with low foreign reserves and slow growth.

Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores. The conflict started on Friday when Israel launched a massive wave of attacks targeting Iranian nuclear and military facilities but also hitting residential areas, sparking retaliation and fears of a broader regional conflict.

A 909 kilometer (565 mile) long international boundary separates Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province from Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. 

“Israel-Iran conflict presents complex challenges for Pakistan as rising oil prices may increase import costs and inflation, influencing monetary policy and growth, while disruptions to key routes like the Strait of Hormuz can affect energy supplies and critical projects,” said Khaqan Najeeb, an economist and former finance ministry adviser.

“It can potentially affect consumer purchasing power and production costs ... Possible disruptions to shipping routes and higher freight charges might result in delays to imports and exports, thereby exerting additional pressure on Pakistan’s external sector.”

DIPLOMATIC BALANCING

As the crisis deepens, analysts widely believe Islamabad should maintain “careful diplomatic balancing” between its ties with Iran and its other partners in the Gulf, as well as the United States.

“Diplomatically, Pakistan has to navigate a balanced and principled stance, honoring its historic ties with Iran alongside its strategic relationships with the US and Gulf partners, emphasizing dialogue and regional stability.”

Former Defense Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Naeem Lodhi said Israel was unlikely to target Pakistan directly but an expanding conflict could complicate matters for Islamabad, adding that it should remain vigilant but avoid “deeper” involvement.

“If the war expands to include more Middle Eastern countries, some of which are friendly to Pakistan, then it would be a difficult proposition for Islamabad... whose side it takes,” Lodhi added. 

Former Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said Pakistan would respond “forcefully” if directly targeted.

“Israel knows that Pakistan has the capacity to hit back hard,” Chaudhry said, referring to a May 2025 military confrontation with India in which Islamabad retaliated to New Delhi’s strikes, taking down fighter jets and hitting airfields, air bases and other military facilities.

Pakistan’s former ambassador to Iran, Asif Durrani, warned that the crisis could spill over if not contained.

“Not only Pakistan, but the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region can be engulfed if the ongoing spat between Israel and Iran turns into an all-out war,” Durrani said.

However, he said the likelihood of a refugee crisis was limited unless the conflict escalated into a ground invasion.

“A refugee influx is possible if it becomes a full-fledged war, but Israel or the United States are unlikely to commit boots on the ground in Iran,” Durrani added. 

Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute think tank, said Pakistani security forces should increase patrols and surveillance in border districts as the conflict could impact militant groups operating along the Iran-Pakistan border region, such as Baloch separatists and other sectarian outfits.

“Whenever such a situation arises, separatist and sectarian outfits often try to take advantage of it, either by increasing their activities or by shifting them from their hideouts inside Iranian territories,” he said. 

“Their movement is likely to intensify if the threat reaches the border region.”