Pet Lion Gets Loose on Pakistani Highway and Causes Traffic Jam, Owner Detained for Keeping in Residential Area

Lion illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Bernard DUPONT)

JAKARTA - A man was arrested and faces charges after the lion he kept escaped in the middle of busy Karachi city traffic and caused panic for two hours.

The lion was being carried by its owner when it escaped on the port city's busy main road during rush hour traffic, a police statement said.

"Our team immediately rushed here. Thank God, the lion is with us safely and no one is in danger at this time," Wildlife Inspector Mukhtyar Soomro told Reuters at the location where the lion was captured, as quoted on September 6.

The escaped lion managed to get into the basement of a nearby building, after roaming the street for several hours.

As a result, the area experienced massive traffic jams. Media vehicles arrived at the scene to cover the incident and crowds gathered to try to catch a glimpse of the fleeing lion, a witness said.

The Wildlife Department said the lion had been taken to its habitat, as it is prohibited to keep lions in residential areas.

"The owner of the lion has been arrested and a case will be registered against him," Senior Police Inspector Shiraz Nazir said in a statement.

Keeping wild cats as pets is not unusual in Pakistan, where wealthy businessmen run private zoos and sometimes display the animals to the public.

In 2017, police in Pakistan arrested a man carrying his pet lion while driving at night through the streets of Karachi.

The lion sighting on a city street went viral on social media, with users expressing concern, but many others saw a lighter side to the incident.

"The lion walks around comfortably in Karachi as if he knows the law of the jungle is here," one user posted on messaging platform X, referring to the city's high street crime rate.