Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
Video captured on CCTV footage showed a lion jumping over a boundary wall and leaping onto a woman, then attacking two children standing nearby in the streets of Lahore, Pakistan.
Short Url
Updated 07 July 2025

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
  • The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park
  • Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols

LAHORE: Eighteen lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Pakistan’s Punjab region, authorities said on Monday as they launched a crackdown after one escaped from a house and attacked a woman and two children.
The woman suffered scratches and bruises, and the two children, aged five and seven, were hospitalized after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.
The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park, said Mubeen Elahi, director general of the provincial Wildlife and Parks Department. The owner was later arrested, police said.
Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols.
“According to the new regulations for keeping big cats, no individual is allowed to keep a lion without a license, without adhering to the required cage size, and without following other standard operating procedures,” Elahi said.
The punishment is up to seven years in jail.
As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules, he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week.
There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, he said.
“I know plenty of people who keep big cats as pets,” said Qaim Ali, 30, who himself had a lion but sold it after it attacked his nephew.
“Most of them are not interested in breeding but keep them as a symbol of power and influence in society.” 


Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive
Updated 04 November 2025

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive

Jonathan Bailey named People magazine’s 2025 Sexiest Man Alive
  • Bailey takes the mantle from “The Office” star John Krasinski, who was the 2024 selection
  • The 37-year-old had audiences swooning as Prince Fiyero in his 2024 big-screen debut in “Wicked,” the popular movie musical

Something has changed for “Wicked” star Jonathan Bailey, something is not the same — he is People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2025.
The magazine’s pick was announced Monday night on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Bailey takes the mantle from “The Office” and “Jack Ryan” star John Krasinski, who was the 2024 selection.
“It’s a huge honor,” Bailey, 37, told the magazine. “Obviously, I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd.”
Bailey had audiences swooning as Prince Fiyero in his 2024 big-screen debut in “Wicked,” the popular movie musical in which he proudly urges fellow students to join him in his shallowness. The second half arrives in theaters Nov. 21.
He dripped with charm as Lord Anthony Bridgerton on Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” and earned a 2024 Emmy nomination for his role in the Showtime series “Fellow Travelers.” Most recently, he starred in “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which came out in July.
Bailey told Fallon that the title was an “honor of a lifetime.”
“I’m sort of thrilled that People magazine have invited someone in – bestowed this honor on someone who can really cherish the value of a sexy man,” he said.
Bailey told People that he’s known he wanted to be an actor since he was 5 years old and his grandmother took him to see a production of the musical “Oliver!” Within two years he had achieved that dream, preforming with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The first Sexiest Man Alive was Mel Gibson in 1985. Other past recipients include Brad Pitt, George Clooney, John F. Kennedy Jr., David Beckham, Michael B. Jordan, John Legend, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Rudd, Pierce Brosnan and Patrick Dempsey.
Bailey, who will be the cover story in People’s edition coming out Friday, had to stay tight-lipped about the news. But he admitted to the magazine that he couldn’t keep it a complete secret — he shared to news with his dog Benson, who will also be featured in the magazine.