A YouTuber from Pakistan has shocked social media by posting a video of a little boy walking a pet tiger. The young adult tiger is seen walking inside a swanky house with the boy holding its chain. The video has been posted on the Instagram handle of Nouman Hassan, a video creator. In four days, the clip has amassed thousands of likes. While some users have praised the bravery of the boy, others have been angered by what the little boy is made to do.
Mr Hassan routinely posts video of his private collection of animals, including tigers, snakes and crocodile.
Though he hasn't said anything about the boy, some social media users claimed he is Mr Hassan's nephew.
One of the users asked if it is a pet tiger. Other Instagram users slammed the video, calling it "ridiculous".
The YouTuber had earlier posted a short clip of the boy walking another tiger inside a car showroom.
Mr Hassan also has lions in his private collection, which he procured from an auction carried out by the Lahore Safari Zoo in August last year. The zoo auctioned off a dozen of lions and tigers to free up space and reduce expenses for meat.
Mr Hassan had said at that time that he bought "two to three lions", adding that the auction was a good way to diversify the gene pool for private collectors who already owned a big cat.
With little legislation to safeguard animal welfare, zoos across Pakistan are notorious for their poor facilities. In April 2020 a court ordered the only zoo in the country's capital to shut after poor facilities and mistreatment of the animals there were revealed.
Mr Hassan and other owners of these big cats post their images and videos on social media, and rent them out for movies and photoshoots.
Conservationists have always opposed such sales, with the environmental group WWF saying the creatures should be moved to other established zoos, or breeding females sterilised or given contraceptives.
