A lion spotted on the loose at Karachi’s central artery, Sharea Faisal, on Tuesday was captured and handed over to the Sindh Wildlife Department, according to police.

The area saw a massive traffic jam with media vehicles arriving at the scene to cover the incident and crowds gathering to try to catch a glimpse of the escaped lion, a Reuters witness said.

South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sheraz Nazir told Dawn.com that the animal was being taken to a veterinarian in a loader vehicle when it “escaped” near Aisha Bawany College in the evening and hid under another vehicle in a parking area.

Police cordoned off the area after the incident while the wildlife department and Karachi Metropolitan authorities were asked to send animal control personnel, he said, adding that the lion’s owner, Shamsul Haq, was also taken into custody and subsequently handed over to the Sindh Wildlife Department.

“They will file a case against him,” the official said.

SSP Nazir said Haq was a resident of the Garden area and told police he was taking the lion to a veterinarian because the animal was sick and not eating anything for the last three days.

“He claims that he kept the lion, along with other animals, at a farmhouse on the highway. A wildlife team with check that premise,” he added.

The SSP said it seemed that precautions were not taken while transporting the animal as it was not chained when it escaped.

Earlier, Sindh Chief Wildlife Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar told Geo News that a wildlife team was dispatched to Sharea Faisal after they received reports of a lion’s presence there.

He said there were reports of exotic animals being kept in the neighbourhood and requested the public to report the presence of any such animals in their localities.

Mahar also said that legal proceedings would be initiated against the lion’s owner.

Interim Sindh Chief Minister retired Justice Maqbool Baqar also took notice of the incident and sought a report from the wildlife department on lions being kept as a pet in urban areas.

“Under which law and by whose permission was the lion kept in a residential area,” a statement issued by his office quoted him as saying.

The episode once again turned the spotlight on urban areas encroaching on natural habitats, and the practice of keeping big cats as pets.

Earlier this year, a similar incident was reported in Islamabad’s Defence Housing Authority when a leopard ran amok in the area. It was captured by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board and Capital Development Authority after more than five hours. Three people were hurt during the episode.

Reports have earlier suggested that several people in upscale areas keep wild animals as pets, as some owners see big cats — such as leopards, lions and tigers — as symbols of wealth and power.

Wildlife laws in Sindh

Sindh enacted a new wildlife law three years ago — called the Sin­dh Wildlife Protection, Pre­ser­va­tion, Conservation and Management Act 2020 — to protect 326 species of birds, 107 species of crawling animals and 82 species of other animals.

Under the act, the lawful possession of any wildlife species has been attached with several stringent conditions, unlike the past practice of granting a two-liner official permit for setting up a mini-zoo, and that too without mentioning any specific species.

For instance, lawfully posses­sing exotic big cats is attached with 39 conditions, including one under which the owner is required to get the DNA certification for the animal, which can only be done at a handful of institutes across the country.

Besides, under the 2020 law, no new application for importing big cats will be entertained. The permit also bars citizens from keeping big cats in residential areas, and an applicant must acquire a no-objection certificate from the relevant union council, town committee and cantonment board.

At that time, a wildlife expert had told Dawn that there might be more than 100 captive big cats in Sindh, most of them in Karachi.

Additional input from Reuters