BANGKOK - The Thai authorities have seized two pet lions from a rental house in the eastern province of Chonburi after a complaint about the animals being on the loose.

The complaint was posted on Facebook earlier this week, saying that two pet lions kept by the tenant of the house were seen roaming the street on several occasions, causing safety concerns among the locals.

Chonburi police and officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) on Jan 25 raided the house in the Bang Lamung district and found a male lion and a white lioness, aged 10 months, as well as two Rottweiler dogs in the one-storey house.

The house was occupied by Jarinyaporn Kaewsai, 28, and two of her employees.

Jarinyaporn admitted to owning the animals, explaining that the lions sometimes escaped when the electronically controlled gates malfunctioned.

She presented evidence of the purchase of the lions from a zoo in Nakhon Pathom province for 500,000 baht (S$18,830) each in December 2022 when they were 45 days old.

Officials however found two discrepancies: the document showed two male lions, while the microchip numbers – which is a requirement for owning a lion – matched only one of the lions to the database.

Lions are a protected animals under the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Officials also found that the owner did not file a registration for ownership of lions with the DNP, violating the laws on protected animals.

Jarinyaporn added that she is in the process of selling the lions back to the zoo, which will pick them up in two days.

DNP officials used tranquiliser darts on the lions before transporting them to Bang Lamung Wildlife Breeding Centre for further investigation, and police charged Jarinyaporn with violating the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act.

Police said the farm that sold the lions to Jarinyaporn is the same establishment that had sold a lion cub to a Thai woman, who was charged on Jan 25 with unreported possession of a protected animal.

The investigation follows a viral video clip of a foreigner cruising around Pattaya City in a Bentley convertible with the lion sitting in the back.

Sawangjit Kosungnoen, the owner of the animal and a friend of the foreigner, was charged with violating the Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act.

Police said failure to report possession of a lion is punishable by a maximum jail term of a year, a fine of up to 100,000 baht, or both. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK