A YouTube star has been ordered to create 12 animal welfare videos as a bizarre punishment for illegally owning a lion cub.
Rajab Butt, who has 5.6 million subscribers, was pictured with the cub after it was given to him at his wedding last month.
Under a community service order, the 30-year-old has been ordered to produce a five-minute video per month for a year to educate his audience.
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The cub has been moved to the Lahore Safari Zoo by authorities and named Bhatti.
In a statement, Mr Butt said he regretted accepting the cub and acknowledged that “keeping wild animals in such circumstances is inappropriate”.
He said: “As a social media influencer, I should create positive content.
“I was not authorised to keep the lion cub, and by doing so, I set a wrong example.”
A court also ordered the wildlife department to help Mr Butt produce his educational content.
A wildlife officer reported Mr Butt to the police after seeing a video he posted to his YouTube channel last month.
Officers raided his home and seized the animal, as reported by Need To Know.
He was arrested Rajab for brandishing firearms and keeping a lion cub without a license.
The cub was given to him by Umar Dolla, who runs his own YouTube channel called Lion Hub.
Tariq Janjua, director of Lahore Safari Zoo, told local media that lions are not suitable for domestication and that keeping them as pets is both cruel to the animal and poses a significant danger to humans.
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