Three people have been charged with illegal possession of a lion cub after a video of the animal riding in a Bentley convertible in Thailand went viral online.
The nine-month-old cub was caught wearing a collar and placing his paws on the rims of the white car as he walked through the streets of Pattaya.
The video was posted on TikTok on January 24, and quickly went viral, having been viewed more than 40,000 times.
Officials from the police and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) launched an investigation and found the animal inside a property along with Suangjit Kusungnyun, a Thai woman who is the registered owner of the lion, and Abena Korots, a Ukrainian who, the Bangkok Post reported, was reported to be the animal's keeper. .
Kosungnyon, Kurots and a 53-year-old Sri Lankan, who was driving the car while the lion cub was in the back, face charges of illegal possession of a wild animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, said Prasert Sorensatapornkul, a director at the company. The DNP was quoted as saying.
The offense carries a prison sentence of up to a year or a fine of up to 100,000 baht (just over £2,000).
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A microchip implanted in the cub showed that it came from a farm in the small province of Nakhon Pathom, and ownership has been transferred to Kosungnyon, but the paperwork has not yet been completed.
A complaint has been filed against the farmer who owned the cub for allegedly possessing and transporting wildlife without permission, according to the Bangkok Post, which quoted the DNP director.
Thailand's Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act prohibits any private person from owning protected wildlife, including big cats, unless the person owned such an animal before the law took effect in 1992.
A total of 38 owners have registered to own 224 lions across the country, according to the Bangkok Post.
