Chinese woman arrested for rearing lion cub in her hotel room in Thailand

Talk about exotic pets.

A Chinese woman was recently arrested for keeping a lion cub in her hotel room in Phuket, Thailand.

She was said to have brought the cub down to the hotel’s cafe daily for walks, and would let it roam free in the establishment for up to three hours. Clearly, she had no intention of hiding the lion’s existence.

A cafe guest would later report the lady to the authorities.

Thailand’s Natural Resources and Environment Crime Division (NRECD) was brought in to handle the case. According to NRECD’s deputy director, the cub is two months old, female, and named Kiwi.

After investigations, the woman was revealed to have bought Kiwi for 250K baht (S$9331) on Jan 9 from a company in Bangkok.

However, she did not possess all the necessary documents required for her to take over ownership of the cub.

She only had one set of documents, and claimed Kiwi was microchipped with a registered serial number.

Upon further inspection, the authorities found that unlike what the lady said, Kiwi was not microchipped, and the documents belonged to some other animal.

While it is not illegal to own a lion in Thailand, they are considered controlled animals under the law, and must have an approved home which is safe and secure.

They are also not allowed to move to a new location without permission. Above all, the owner must have all the relevant documents pertaining to the lion as proof of ownership.

Since she was unable to present the necessary documents, the woman is currently locked up at the police station, and will be charged under the wild animal reservation and protection act.

Kiwi will also be put under the care of the relevant local organisations.

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Phuket police, wildlife officials seize lion cub, charge Chinese woman

Police and park officials zeroed in on a Chinese woman on Tuesday and seized her lion cub after images of the animal were shared on social media.

On Monday, a tourist posted a video clip of the lion cub being displayed inside a café and asked if it was legal and if it could be considered cruel. The clip also provided the café’s exact address in Phuket’s Rassada subdistrict.

A day later, Muang Phuket Police Station’s deputy chief Pol Lt-Colonel Thantuwong Wutthiwong and his team, along with officials from a wildlife sanctuary in Phuket showed up to search the café.

Though the cub was not there, the manager of the café conceded that it had been put on display last week.

Phuket police, wildlife officials seize lion cub, charge Chinese woman

The authorities then interrogated café owner Chern Min, 31, and she admitted to buying the cub from Bangkok for 250,000 baht.

She led the authorities to her room inside a hotel behind the café but failed to provide a permit for keeping and raising the cub.

The officials then seized the young animal and took it to the wildlife sanctuary.

The Chinese woman, meanwhile, was charged with violating the wildlife protection act by having a wild animal in possession without a permit.