Page 119 - NU Newsletter 2022

Lion who lived in Phnom Penh villa

to be returned to its Chinese owner, says PM

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Sunday night that he allowed
returning of a male lion to a Chinese man who had raised it a

week after authorities had removed it.

On June 27, authorities confiscated a nearly fully grown male
lion from a Boeng Keng Kang home in Phnom Penh after

online reports about it wandering freely in Zhai Xinjiang’s
backyard.

The lion known as Hei Man (Dark Mind in English) was fed six
kilogrammes in cooked meat and drank one kilogramme of

milk daily. Zhai was charged $30,000 and the animal was taken to the
Mr Hun Sen said he raised the issue with Agriculture Minister Phnom Tamao Wildlife and Rescue Centre to stay in a special-

Veng Sakhon and agreed to have the lion returned to Zhai. ly designed enclosure.
“This evening I discussed it with Minister of Agriculture and Zhai said last week that he had taken in the animal as a cub

agreed to allow the owner to take back the animal on the when it was just two months old and cared for it for nearly one
condition that he builds a proper enclosure to ensure the year.

safety of people inside the home and the neighbors,” Mr Hun He denied that he maltreated the lion.
Sen said in a post on his Facebook on Sunday night. In response to a Facebook user about what happened to the

“Thank you our countrymen both inside and outside the coun- fine charged by authorities, Mr Hun Sen said that the money
try for giving advice and pity on the lion,” he said. will be returned to the lion owner.

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