Former Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has expressed fascination at the obsession that wealthy Arab men have for wild cats like lions and tigers.

In a post on X, Sani stated that Africans who have such animals in abundance in their forests don't contemplate keeping them as pets.

According to him, this is because the animals have an instinct to attack, and will do so to their owners regardless of how friendly they are to them.

He said, "I still don’t know why some wealthy Arabs are obsessed with keeping wild animals like lions, tigers, leopards or cheetahs as pets in their homes. We Africans that have those animals don’t contemplate or risk keeping such wild beasts in our homes. Its instructive to note that no matter how friendly you are to such wild beasts, it only takes the trigger of their instincts to attack and devour you. I just read a news report about an Arab man eaten by a lion he bought some few weeks ago."

Sani's post followed reports that an Iraqi man, Aqil Fakhr al-Din, 50, was killed and partially devoured by his pet lion in Kufa last Thursday.

The unfortunate incident occurred days after he purchased the animal to tame it.

According to the reports, Al-Din was attacked as he approached the lion's cage in the garden of his home in the Al-Hasinat area, where he had kept lions and other wild animals for years.

The said lion pounced on him, biting his neck and chest, resulting in fatal injuries. The animal then consumed a significant portion of the man's body.

Al-Din was well-known in the community for keeping exotic animals as pets.


ASA