Lion ownership is legal in Thailand, and Tharnuwarht Plengkemratch is an enthusiastic advocate, posting updates on his feline companions to nearly three million followers.
Thailand’s captive lion population has exploded in recent years, with nearly 500 registered in zoos, breeding farms, petting cafes and homes.
“It’s absolute madness,“ said Tom Taylor, chief operating officer of conservation group Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.
The boom is fuelled by social media, where owners like Tharnuwarht post light-hearted content and glamour shots with lions.
He entered Big George’s enclosure tentatively though, spending just a few minutes being batted by the tawny striped liger’s hefty paws before retreating behind a fence.
But there are no breeding caps, few enclosure or welfare requirements, and no controls on liger or tigon hybrids.
“That is a huge window,“ said Taylor. “What could be done with a litter of cubs in those 60 days? Anything.”
Taylor and his colleagues have tracked the rise in lion ownership with on-site visits and by trawling social media.
But nearly 350 more lions they encountered were “lost to follow-up” after their whereabouts could not be confirmed for a year.
“We have interviewed traders (in the region) who have given us prices for live and dead lions and have told us they can take them over the border.”
But there is circumstantial evidence of illicit trade, several experts told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid angering authorities.
There is also growing evidence that captive lion numbers in Laos exceed CITES import licences.
Thai trader Pathamawadee Janpithak started in the crocodile business, but pivoted to lions as prices for the reptiles declined.
She sells one-month-olds for around 500,000 baht ($15,500), down from a peak of 800,000 baht as breeding operations like hers increase supply.
Pathamawadee’s three facilities house around 80 lions, from a stately full-maned nine-year-old to a sickly pair of eight-day-olds being bottle-fed around the clock.
Sometimes wrongly considered a “threatened” subspecies, they are popular in Thailand, but a month-old white cub being reared alongside the newborns has been sick almost since birth.
She lamented the increasing difficulty of finding buyers willing to comply with ownership rules.
Legal review
Outside Chiang Mai, a handler roused a cub from a nap to play with a group of squealing Chinese tourists.
Pathamawadee no longer sells to cafes, which tend to offload cubs within weeks as they grow.
The growing lion population is a problem for Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), admitted wildlife protection director Sadudee Punpugdee.
That includes limiting lion imports so breeders are forced to rely on the domestic population.
Already stretched authorities face difficult choices on enforcing regulations, as confiscated animals become their responsibility, said Penthai Siriwat, illegal wildlife trade specialist at WWF Thailand.
Owners like Tharnuwarht often evoke conservation to justify their pets, but Thailand’s captive lions will never live in the wild.
They could survive another decade or more, and require specialised keepers, food and care.
Big cat ownership has been banned in the United States and United Arab Emirates in recent years, and Thailand’s wildlife rules are soon up for review.
He has his own advice for would-be owners: “Wild animals belong in the wild. There are plenty of other animals we can keep as pets.” - AFP
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