A lion cub was rescued from a luxury car on the Champs-Elysées in Paris

Is this a worrying new trend? Wealthy owners keeping wild animals as pets is becoming more and more common.

An alarming practice

For several weeks now, animal protection associations have been sounding the alarm about a phenomenon that is cause for concern. More and more NGOs are being called in urgently to rescue lion cubs (or other wild felines) illegally held by private individuals in the Paris region.

A young lion cub was recently found not in a flat but... in the back of a luxury car! Some people post photos of these wild animals on social networks, while others rent them out to appear in rap videos or to private parties.

A lion cub in Paris

During a routine police check, law enforcement officers on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris found the poor wild animal in the back of the vehicle, which had been rented by a private individual. The driver was immediately taken into custody.

The poor cub was taken into care by the 30 Millions d’Amis Foundation, which immediately expressed its dismay and anger on social networks.

Not the first time

As the association pointed out, this cub is not the first to be discovered in the Paris region in recent months. NGOs are rescuing lion cubs, tigers, and young caracals held illegally all over France by private individuals.

But these animals are exploited by their captors while they are young and still manageable. Once the animals have grown up, one can only imagine what their ‘owners’ do with them...