Cambodia ‘Pet’ lion returned to Chinese owner in July, spotted in streets of Phnom Penh

The famous ‘pet lion’ owned by a wealthy Chinese national, which was confiscated in June by the Cambodian authorities and later returned after Cambodian PM's intervention was spotted once again wandering the streets of Phnom Penh unsupervised early Tuesday morning. The 18-month-old declawed male lion became the centre of controversy after Cambodian officials said that it was “illegally smuggled” into the country. An inquiry was set up in April after the lion, residing at a villa in the capital, Phnom Penh, was popularised via the TikTok videos, which came to the notice of the Cambodian police. 

The 70kg (11st) lion was then confiscated on 27 June and was later relocated to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Centre by NGO Wildlife Alliance. After the Chinese man, Zhai Xinjiang made appeals on social media Cambodian Prime Minister took to Facebook to inform that he had raised the issue with Hun Sen Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon and the government had agreed to return the lion to its owner provided the animal was kept under supervision and "proper cage”. 

On Tuesday, however, the lion was spotted meandering near the BKK1 villa, his residence, and he ran loose in the Cambodian capital. In the footage that went viral on social media, the predator walked down Street 306 with no collar or a human-looking after its casual stroll. "And this is why you don’t keep lions as a pet in the middle of the city, now exploring the streets of Phnom Penh", read the caption to the shocking footage. 

Lion Hei Man's owner signed contract promising safety

After the sighting of the lion named ‘Dark Mind’ or ‘Hei Man’ created the stir once again about the animal’s safety, it was later reported to have been recaptured by the owner and safely led back to the abode. Chinese owner Zhai Xinjiang had in fact signed a contract with the Cambodian authorities promising to meet the “conditions related to the techniques that are appropriate and the technical standards of the living environment for the lion and safety.” The Cambodian authorities had also reimbursed the penalty paid by the owner as asked by the Cambodia PM, which was approximately $30,000 (£21,600).

“I will strictly implement the government’s requirements on feeding the lion and building better fences for it. I am very thankful to Prime Minister Hun Sen for allowing the authorities to hand over my pet lion to me to raise and take care,” the owner Xinjiang had said in a statement in July when the pet lion was repatriated to him. 

“I am so very grateful to the Cambodian government for its flexibility in handling the matter. I will pay more attention to complying with Cambodian laws,” he had added.

The contract had stated that the owner “will assume the risks to himself and be responsible.” Cambodian PM had himself vouched for the lion to be returned to the Chinese man as he wrote on Facebook, “This evening I discussed it with Minister of Agriculture and agreed to allow the owner to take back the animal on the condition that he builds a proper enclosure to ensure the safety of people inside the home and the neighbours."  At the time the lion was returned to the owner,  Nheb Rattanak Pich, director of the Phnom Tamao Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Center, had told the reporters that the owner of the lion had agreed to be ‘legally responsible’ for the safety of the animal. 

“If anything goes wrong, he guarantees to be responsible before the law. If any case arises from his pet lion, we have made a letter of delivery and we will receive it when to take care of, you must provide enough food, provide enough vitamins and other reserve minerals such as calcium," Nheb Rattanak Pich said.