Cambodian police confiscate pet lion after Chinese owner shared TikTok video

Name: Pet lion confiscated by Cambodian police after Chinese owner shared TikTok video
Uploaded: 2021-06-27T15:06:48.000Z
Duration: 1 min 18 s
Description: Pet lion confiscated by Cambodian police 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

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The photo released by Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment shows the male lion being confiscated. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 11:06pm, 27 Jun 2021Updated: 2:09pm, 29 Jun 2021

Cambodian authorities on Sunday confiscated a pet lion after the defanged and declawed animal was seen in TikTok videos in a Phnom Penh villa.

The 18-month-old male, weighing 70 kilograms, had been imported from overseas by the owner, a Chinese national, to be raised in his home, environment ministry spokesman Neth Pheaktra 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

Wildlife Alliance – an animal rescue NGO that aided in the raid – wrote in a Facebook post that the conditions of a private residence was “inappropriate for a wild animal”.

“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.