Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Banner Left
Banner Right

Pakistani YouTube star in trouble over lion cub gift

NOT A PET … A zookeeper holds a lion cub that was confiscated from Pakistani YouTuber Rajab Butt, at a zoo in Lahore. Photo: Arif Ali (AFP)

A Pakistani YouTube star, who was given a lion cub as a gift on his wedding day, has avoided jail after promising to upload animal rights videos for a year.

Rajab Butt has one of the largest online followings in the south Asian country and his week-long nuptials in late December were plastered over celebrity gossip websites.

When a sleepy lion cub was presented to him in a gold-chained cage in front of thousands of guests, pictures spread rapidly online.

Butt captioned a video of the event ‘it’s raining gifts’, gaining nearly 10 million views.

The morning after, police raided his house, confiscated the cub and kept the newly-wed in custody overnight.

“We found out about the lion cub through social media,” says Faisal Mushtaq, an inspector from the Punjab provincial wildlife department.

Police officers went to Butt’s house and found the lion cub roaming around the garage, he says.

“It was in a poor condition, as it was very cold,” says Mushtaq.

Last week, Butt pleaded guilty to owning an undocumented wild animal, but the judge waived a possible fine and prison sentence of up to two years for a more tailored punishment.

Every month for one year, he must post a five-minute video dedicated to animal rights, says the order by judge Hamid Ul Rahman Nasir.

Butt agreed to the conditions, after admitting in a court statement that he “set a poor example” by accepting the gift and going on to “glorify it”.

He is one of the country’s highest-paid YouTube stars, according to the platform and usually posts videos about his family’s daily life, from arguments to new car purchases.

Tanvir Janjua, a veteran wildlife official in Punjab, says the cub was likely bought for between 700 000 and 800 000 Pakistani rupees (about N$47 000 to N$54 000).

“It is so wrong, morally and legally, to take away such a small cub from its mother,” which was likely still feeding it, Janjua told AFP.

The gifted lion cub, which has not been named, is now enjoying the winter sun in an open pen at Lahore’s sprawling Safari Zoo on the edge of the city, under the watchful eye of a handler.

Janjua, also the zoo’s deputy director, says: “Look at these YouTubers who use these animals to get clicks. What kind of a message are they spreading by being cruel to these animals?”

“They can never be your pet. For two or three months it won’t do anything but after that, it will turn aggressive.”

Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!

Latest News