Owner of lion caught strolling on Sharea Faisal gets bail

Big cat was being smuggled to another province, say Sindh Wildlife Department’s officials

KARACHI:

The owner of the lion caught roaming on the city’s busy thoroughfare Sharae Faisal yesterday got bail from the South district court against a bail bond of Rs200,000 on Wednesday.

“I don’t want the lion, court may handover its custody to anyone it deems fit,” Shamsul Haq stated before the Additional District and Sessions judge.

The court granted bail to five suspects, including the owner of the lion, in the case filed by the Wildlife Department regarding the release of the lion on Shahrae Faisal. The court has ordered the accused to submit bail bonds of Rs200,000 each.

The suspects include Shamsul Haq, Obaid, Ghulam Murtaza, Nasir, and others. Haq stated, “We do not want the lion; it can be handed over to anyone.”

A wild turtle was also recovered from their possession.

The court has directed to provide a natural habitat for the turtle and the lion. The court has also instructed to keep the lion and the turtle in Karachi Zoo until a decision is reached.

The court has requested the Wildlife authorities to submit the case report within 14 days.

Smuggling bid

The African lion, which escaped from a loading pickup on the busy Sharea Faisal on Tuesday night, was allegedly being smuggled to another province, said the Sindh Wildlife Department officials.

They pointed out that there was discrepancy in the statements of the arrested accused.

The African lion, though raised in domestic environment, displayed its animal instincts when wildlife officials tried to catch it.

Read also: Lion walking down Karachi’s Sharea Faisal caught on camera

The big cat not only dodged but also tried to attack the SWD officials.

Once the young lion was in SWD custody, the department filed a case against the owner Shamsul Haq and four others at Sindh Wildlife Police Station late at night.

The arrested suspects tried to get away by concocting a story that the lion was sick and they were taking it to vet in Defence Housing Authority.

However, the presence of an aged tortoise in the loading pickup with the lion raised suspicions.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, the lion went through a medical checkup at the Karachi Zoo, where it is being kept on court orders, and it turned out that it was completely fit.

The zoo veterinarians declared the big cat completely healthy. According to the sources, the lion ate well during the night even though it was in a cage instead of the open farm where it grew up.

SWD officials said that the owner of the lion, Shamsul Haq, has stated that he had bought an 18-month-old cub a year ago. Currently the value of the well-fed healthy lion is around Rs1 million.

According to SWD Inspector Naeem Khan who rescued the lion from the spot, the cage in which it was being taken was in a very dilapidated condition and very small for the big cat to fit in.

He said it was possible that the lion, which roams freely like a pet in its owner’s house, got agitated because of the cage and broke out of it.

Inspector Naeem further said that the accused had kept lions without official permit and permission.