(Bangkok) Police in Thailand announced on Friday the indictment of a woman for illegal possession of a lion cub, after the release of a video that went viral online showing the animal being driven around in a Bentley.
Police opened an investigation into the video, which has more than 2.6 million views, showing a lion cub in a white Bentley driving around the tourist town of Pattaya.
Sawangjit Kosoognern was accused of violating environmental and natural resources laws by “unauthorized possession of a protected animal species,” police explained on their official Facebook page.
“We apprehended her under the Wild Animal Protection Act, 2019,” the police added.
Under the law, the Thai woman could be fined up to 100,000 baht (about $3,800 Canadian) and face up to a year in prison.
Mme Sawangjit told police he bought the young lion from another woman for 250,000 baht ($9,500) but was unable to obtain an official document for the sale due to lack of information on the animal’s sex.
She kept the feline in a house rented by a Sri Lankan. The man, who can be seen driving the Bentley in the video, was deported back to his country, according to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife.