Toofan, an eight-year-old male lion, presses against the bars and wire of his enclosure at a private zoo as co-owner Yusuf Khan reaches through and strokes his nose. Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
In the wild, lions’ home ranges can extend over 600 square kilometres, and tigers’ can reach 1,000 square kilometres. In some of Pakistan’s private big-cat zoos, our photojournalist found these animals in cages as small as five square metres.
In February 2026, our photojournalist Lucien Migné visited four private zoos in Karachi that keep lions and tigers. Some zoos are partially open to the public, while others are exclusively for the entertainment of family members, friends, business associates, and social media followers.
What Migné found raises concerns about the animals’ welfare and the security of people who visit and work with them—including tiny cages, cubs harassed by visitors, and inadequate safety precautions.
Rani, a two-year-old white lioness, pulls against the chain as owner Abdul Malik leads her across the property at his private zoo. Raised in close contact with humans, she is restrained when walked to maintain control and prevent escape. Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Welfare concerns for lions and tigers
Animal Adventure is a privately run zoo inside Karachi’s public zoo. It houses four big cats: two lions and two tigers.
The cubs sleep in a small indoor enclosure, which our photojournalist was not allowed to photograph. When the private zoo is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., the cubs are kept in small outdoor enclosures that visitors constantly enter to take photos. Migné reported that visitors are encouraged to touch and tease the animals, sometimes provoking reactions for photographs. The cubs are handled even while sleeping.
The two adult big cats remain permanently indoors, day and night, in the same facility, alternating between two enclosures: one approximately five square metres and the other around 30 square metres.
Visitors stroke the neck and paw of Mufasa, a male Bengal tiger cub, as he sleeps inside his enclosure at a private zoo. During public visiting hours, the cubs are handled and photographed. Animal Adventure Zoo, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Baadchah, a male white lion, stands inside his larger indoor enclosure at a private zoo. A wound on his flank, reportedly caused by a bite from the white Bengal tiger housed nearby, remains visible. Animal Adventure Zoo, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Banti, a male white tiger, leaps inside a small indoor cage at a private zoo. Outside the enclosure, a wooden stick leans against the wall, used by staff to deter the cats if they show signs of aggression. Animal Adventure Zoo, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
A danger to humans
In recent years, Pakistan has begun tightening its laws and regulations on big-cat ownership, mostly in response to high-profile cases of animals escaping and endangering humans, rather than animal welfare concerns.
In 2023, for example, a lion escaped a vehicle when its owner was transporting it—without security restraints—to the vet. It was found wandering down one of Karachi’s main streets. In a horrifying incident in 2025, a lion escaped from a farm near Lahore and attacked a woman and two children in the street. Fortunately, everyone survived, and the owners were arrested.
Despite these hugely publicised incidents, Migné documented serious concerns around the safety of staff and visitors who come into close contact with the animals in these private zoos. All the owners he spoke to described themselves as animal lovers, and some referred to the animals as their pets and family members. These feelings for wild animals, even if they were bred in captivity, can lead to a false sense of security that they can be handled like domesticated animals.
Max, a male Bengal tiger, bites a staff member’s foot at a private big cat breeding facility while restrained. Another employee struggles to keep a nearby white lion under control while others rush to free the man’s leg. The Animal World, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Max, a male Bengal tiger, is restrained by on chain by staff member Ghazi inside an enclosure at a private big cat breeding facility. The Animal World, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
At Animal Adventure, there appeared to be no formal safety precautions. A glass panel separates the public from the white tiger’s enclosure. A circular opening in this glass is sometimes covered with tape. During our visit, children placed their hands through it.” — Lucien Migné, photojournalist
Banti, a male white Bengal tiger, walks inside his glass-fronted enclosure at a private zoo while visitors watch and photograph him through the panes. Animal Adventure Zoo, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Status symbols, social media clout, and conservation claims
Brothers Abdul Malik (26) and Yusuf Khan (28) have six big cats in this location and seven at another in Quetta. Malik is considered a “king of lion breeding” in the region, but the venture isn’t for profit. Instead, he gives cubs to friends or to other zoos. Both owners frequently share visuals of themselves and their big cats on TikTok and Instagram.
When Migné visited, Rani, a female white lion, was chained to a tree. At one point, Malik walked around with her, using the chain as a leash, which Migné found dangerous because the powerful cat nearly pulled Malik off his feet.
“It seemed clear that the symbolic power of the lion plays a role in how these animals are presented, particularly on social media. The lion’s strength and status appear to resonate with ideas of power and masculinity, which may partly explain the appeal of keeping such animals, even if this is not always consciously expressed by their owners.” — Lucien Migné, photojournalist
Two female white lion cubs, approximately one month old, are held in the hands of breeder Yusuf Khan as he looks down at them after carrying them out of their enclosure. They are the offspring of Toofan and Lela, two lions kept at the zoo. Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
Rani, a two-year-old white lioness, stands beside owner Abdul Malik on the steps of his residence at his private zoo as he holds a chain attached to her collar. Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
A lion cub tethered by a chain to a concrete anchor paces in tight circles at a private big cat breeding facility. According to staff, young cubs are separated from their mothers and housed apart from adults for handling and management purposes The Animal World, Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan, 2026.
Lucien Migné / We Animals
In other cases, the justification shifts to conservation.
Elixir Zoo, which is not open to the public, has two Bengal tigers, two white lions, and two common lions. Its owner told Migné that some of the animals had been rescued from private homes and that he keeps them to help preserve the species, arguing they would not survive if released into the wild,
Some zoos breed the animals. The senior manager at The Animal World claims that the zoo holds a licence from the Sindh Wildlife Department allowing it to breed and sell lions.
However, the Director of the Sindh Wildlife Department told our photojournalist that no such licences had officially been issued in the province. He explained that authorities struggle to confiscate big cats because they lack facilities to house them and money to feed and care for them.
“When there are real risks to the species, the best alternative to freedom is a proper conservation centre that recreates the species’ natural habitat.” — Lucien Migné, photojournalist
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