An adult lion escaped from a private vehicle amid a traffic jam in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Tuesday, causing panic for two hours before being recaptured, police said.
The lion was being transported by its owner when it escaped on the main road of the busy port city during rush hour, a police statement said.
“Our team rushed here immediately. All praise be to God, it is with us safely and no one is in danger now,” Wildlife Inspector Mukhtyar Soomro told Reuters at the location of the lion’s capture.
A lion escaping from a private vehicle in the middle of a traffic jam is captured in this video screenshot, in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 29, 2023. REUTERS TV/via REUTERS
The escaped lion had entered the basement of a nearby building after roaming on the street for some time.
The area saw a huge traffic jam as media vehicles arrived at the scene to cover the incident and people gathered to try to catch a glimpse of the escaped lion, a Reuters witness said.
The Wildlife Department said the lion was taken to its compound, as keeping lions in residential areas is prohibited.
People carry cages as they capture a lion that escaped from a private vehicle in Karachi, Pakistan, on August 29, 2023. REUTERS TV/via REUTERS
“The owner of the lion has been arrested and a case will be registered against him,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Shiraz Nazir in a statement.
Keeping feral cats as pets is not unusual in Pakistan, where wealthy businessmen are known to run private zoos and sometimes parade the animals for the public.
In 2017, police in Pakistan arrested a man who took his pet lion for a nighttime drive through the streets of Karachi.
The visual of the lion went viral on social media, with users expressing concern, but many others saw a lighter side to the incident.
“A lion walks comfortably in Karachi as if he knows there is a law of the jungle here,” said one user on messaging platform X, referring to the city’s high street crime rate.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
