A Chinese man raising a lion at his Pattaya-area house was ordered to apply for a license, but the protected animal wasn’t seized as neighbors hoped.
Nongprue police and officers from Protected Area Regional Office 2 in Sriracha visited the Central Park Hill Village home of Shen Tai, 39, on Soi Tungklom-Tanman Feb. 28.
As neighbors complained, they found a female white lion wandering free around the walled property.
Shen Tai showed the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation officers a receipt that he had purchased the 3-month-old lioness for 500,000 baht from the White Lion Farm of Yothin Nakorn in Chachoengsao. However, he could not produce a license from the department to raise the animal.
Department veterinarian Dr. Pairoj Phromwat said the white lion is one of 67 species of controlled wildlife that requires the government be notified of possession.
Shen was told he must immediately bring the receipt to the Sriracha office and apply for the license. Once the application is made, officers will verify if the purchase was legal and whether Shen’s house and yard meet the requirements for raising the wild animal.
Requirements cover safety and cages and the threat to others in the vicinity.
Neighbors feel the lion is a threat to them and their children and want it removed. But, for now, the lioness was allowed to continue wandering about the Chinese expat’s yard.
