The lion rescued from Al Barsha in a cage at the Dubai Zoo on Friday.
Dubai - Dubai is planning to go hard on big pet owners in line with neighbouring Sharjah's ban on owning dangerous predators.
Published: Fri 22 Jan 2016, 11:00 PM
Updated: Sat 23 Jan 2016, 1:06 PM
Dubai is planning to implement a stricter ban on owning big cats and other wild animals, Khaleej Times has learnt, a day after a lioness was captured from the streets of Al Barsha area.
At least two officials in the know of the plan said the emirate is working on a law that is similar to what was recently implemented in Sharjah. However, they were unable to give details as they were not directly involved in the drafting.
"We recently heard we will have the same procedures (that are implemented in Sharjah).," said Ghaith Ahmed Al Falasi, head of the Animal Inspection Unit at the Veterinary Section of Dubai Municipality.
"We are just waiting for it... We don't know the details yet," he said on Friday afternoon.
Keeping exotic pets and wild cats without special permission is already illegal in Dubai, he said.
The Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) issues a permit to import and keep such animals under the regulations of the CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
However, Dubai residents have witnessed big cats being carried in cars many times in the past, posing a threat to public safety regardless of the permission for keeping them.
Now, the emirate is planning to go hard on such big pet owners in line with neighbouring Sharjah's ban on owning dangerous predators that was announced in November 2014.
Anyone found with a banned animal faces a Dh100,000 fine, as per the law issued by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. Licensed public and private zoos, scientific research centres and universities have been exempted.
"Dubai is definitely planning something like that... Something is likely to come up soon," Dubai Municipality's Wildlife Specialist Dr Reza Khan said.
The officials were speaking to Khaleej Times after a lion was captured while it was roaming around the streets of Al Barsha on Thursday night.
Scared residents alerted the police about spotting the big cat on the loose at around 7pm. It is suspected to have sneaked out of its owner's place.
Al Falasi said a team from the municipality's Animal Welfare Unit joined forces with the Dubai Police to capture the wild animal.
"They used tranquiliser shots to capture it," he said. Traffic was blocked to facilitate the operation and nobody was hurt, officials said.
Dr Khan described the animal as an African lioness aged around one year. "It was brought to the Dubai Zoo by 11am on Friday," he said.
The sedated lioness remained inactive inside a cage kept away from visitors at the zoo. The zoo's vets injected it with antibiotics and multivitamins and gave boneless chicken cubes to eat.
"It's nervous and trying to adjust. We will see if she eats by herself or not," Dr Khan said, adding that the lioness will remain in the zoo unless the police want to return it to its owner after closing the investigation.
Al Falasi said an investigation is on from the municipality's side as well. "We want to find out the owner and what happened." However, he said any action against the "irresponsible owner who put people's safety at risk" will be decided by the police and the ministry.
Khaleej Times could not reach officials from both the entities for comments on Friday.
The incident is the latest example of wild animals escaping to prowl the streets of the UAE.
In 2010 a frightened cheetah was found roaming Sharjah's Al Mina Street before finally taking refuge in Al Magfira Mosque. Police captured two other animals - a poisonous snake and a tiger - the same year.
In some cases, having exotic pets has ended in tragedy.
In 2014, a Filipina maid was mauled by a pet lion kept in a residence in Kuwait and died from her wounds, the Kuwait Times reported at the time. The owner - a Kuwaiti national - was taken in for questioning and later sued.
sajila@khaleejtimes.com
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