IRAQ: Iraqi man raises three lion cubs at home

Record ID: 830973

  • Title: IRAQ: Iraqi man raises three lion cubs at home
  • Date: 19th June 2012
  • Summary: AL-QIBLA DISTRICT, BASRA, IRAQ (RECENT) (REUTERS) HANI HAMEED ABDUL KAREEM FEEDING MILK IN BOTTLE TO LION CUB, SURROUNDED BY CHILDREN
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World,Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA8J55WYWZIAKPZ8231RJI9BQNU
  • Story Text: Hani Hameed Abdul Kareem's house in a poor neighbourhood of Iraq's Basra city is a major draw for children.
    It offers them a sight they have hitherto only seen on television -- three lion cubs.
    A trader of pet birds, Kareem says raising wild animals has been a childhood dream. But he says it was not allowed under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's rule.
    "People used to say that Uday, Saddam Hussein's son, had a lion. That was considered something strange. There was nothing like this before. But now the roads are open, and various kinds of animals, not only these lions, are getting in. Now I have a lion," the father of two said, as he bottle fed the cubs.
    Saddam Hussein's son Uday was believed in Iraq to have been a lover of wild animals, fast cars and beautiful women. He owned several lions, tigers and cheetahs, some of them gifts from friendly foreign governments.
    Once kept in a private zoo by Uday, the animals were relocated after the toppling of Saddam's regime in 2003 to two different South African game reserves in the hope they will form new prides.
    Kareem said that open borders with neighbouring countries after 2003 had facilitated the smuggling of different kinds of goods, including animals, into Iraq.
    The cubs often mingle freely with the children, but Kareem says he keeps a watchful eye.
    "I keep them in this place and when they grow up and are five months old, I will prevent children from getting closer to them because the child hurts it (the cub). When I am around, I will let children go up (to play with them), but when I go out, I lock them in and prevent children from getting closer. The child hurts the lion and when one hurts the lion, the lion will no longer love him," he said.
    Kareem's childhood dream of owning a wild animal came true when a friend told him recently that he could bring him cubs from a man in Syria who breeds animals in his private farm.
    Kareem now wants to set up a zoo near Basra.
    "I hope that the government gives me land and I will open a very large zoo. I will bring a lion, a tiger, an elephant, ostriches, giraffes and bears. I have all these animals reserved for me with a man (in Syria). I told him to keep the animals with him until I get the land," he said.
    Kareem says he bought two mature lions in the past, but he had to give them to a friend because he feared for the safety of his children. He opted instead for six three-month-old cubs which were sold for $7,500 a pair, Kareem added.
    He went on to sell two of them, while a third cub died. Kareem said the cub died because of an excessive dose of milk.
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