PHUKET - Police and park officials zeroed in on a Chinese woman on Feb 13 and seized her lion cub after images of the animal were shared on social media.

On Feb 12, a tourist posted a video clip of the lion cub being displayed inside a cafe, asking if it was legal and if it could be considered cruel. The clip provided the cafe’s exact address in Phuket’s Rassada subdistrict.

A day later, Muang Phuket Police Station’s deputy chief Thantuwong Wutthiwong and his team, along with officials from a wildlife sanctuary in Phuket, showed up to search the cafe.

Though the cub was not there, the manager of the cafe conceded it had been put on display last week.

The authorities then interrogated cafe owner Chern Min, 31, and she admitted to buying the cub from Bangkok for 250,000 baht (S$9,300).

She led the authorities to her room inside a hotel behind the cafe but failed to provide a permit for keeping and raising the cub.

The officials then seized the young animal and took it to the wildlife sanctuary.

The Chinese woman, meanwhile, was charged with violating the wildlife protection Act by having a wild animal in possession without a permit. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK