Cambodian police confiscate pet lion after Chinese owner shared TikTok video
- The 18-month-old male, which weighed 70kg, had been imported from overseas by the owner to be raised in his Phnom Penh villa
- ‘The lion’s canine teeth had been removed, along with its claws, which drastically reduces a lion’s quality of life,’ conservation group said
“Cambodian authorities started investigating this lion since we saw it on TikTok in late April,” Pheaktra said.
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Pet lion confiscated by Cambodian police after Chinese owner shared TikTok video
“In addition, the lion’s canine teeth had been removed, along with its claws, which drastically reduces a lion’s quality of life,” it said.
The owner had shared a photo of the lion sitting in a driveway as a dog played nearby.
There was also a video of it as a young cub being sprayed down with a hose.
“People have no right to raise rare wildlife as pets,” Pheaktra said.
The big cat was shown in photos released Sunday by the environment ministry lounging with a small dog as authorities prepped a crate to move it to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in the outskirts of the capital.
The confiscation occurred one a day after a Twitter user posted an aerial shot of the creature roaming around a garden in the upscale Boeung Keng Kang district of Phnom Penh.