After its owner posted videos on TikTok, a young male lion was captured in Cambodia.
According to Wildlife Alliance, the 1.5-year-old lion weighs in at 154 pounds.
Lions use their canine teeth to tear apart skin and meat.
In a tweet, Koam Seiha, Phnom Penh Prey Chey Administration director, stated that people don’t have the right to rear wild animals and that the lion would go to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Conservation and Rescue Center.
According to the tweet, the owner “has been called by authorities to stop raising such animals.”
According to Wildlife Alliance, the lion consumes about 13 pounds of meat each day.
The NGO tweeted that “the conditions in a residential home were inappropriate for a wild beast” and said that the lion was now safe and being cared for at the rescue center.
Neth Pheaktra, the spokesperson for the Environment Ministry, told the AFP news agency the lion was spotted on social media.
According to AFP, Pheaktra stated Sunday that “Cambodian authorities began investigating this lion after we saw it on TikTok in late April.” “People don’t have the right to keep rare wildlife as pets.”
It is illegal in most countries to keep wild animals in their homes, but many US states allow it.
If a bipartisan bill is passed, however, this could change.
The Big Cat Public Safety Act would effectively ban the ownership of lions and tigers as house pets.
People who already have big cats and people who own sanctuaries or zoos would be exempted, provided they register them promptly.