Lioness cub runs wild on Russian train in Urals

young lioness

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This is a nice little cat story. Well, actually, the cat wasn’t that little. Although the lady had registered her lioness cub as a domestic cat, she weighed 110 pounds, which is about 50 kg.

Some domestic cat! Not happy with simply registering her lioness as a domestic cat and treating her as a pet she appears to have decided to take a train ride with her lioness and somehow managed to get the cat onto a train and into a train compartment with other passengers.

Heaven knows how she achieved all that without at least somebody asking questions to any train official who was on hand. Perhaps that is what happened because eventually the transport police turned up and took the lioness off her having tranquillised the young big cat. The lion was then handed over to a specialist and beyond that point I don’t know what happened. I sincerely hope that this lady gets her lioness back. Or do I? On second thoughts no.

The problem is that this lion will end up in a zoo. It is all a total disaster for the cat.

Apparently, she was in was a sleeper train travelling to Yekaterinburg which is 1,400 kilometres (850 miles) east of Moscow.

The problems began on the train when the lioness started to behave aggressively. I’m not sure whether that means the lion behaved aggressively towards other people or was simply agitated. You can understand why she could be agitated. The situation was totally unsuited to a lion. The owner could not cope with the situation and obviously things got out of hand.

The lioness was originally kept in a cage by the lady who was in one of the train’s sleeper cars. The lady let the lioness out of her cage which caused mayhem and then she managed to lock the lioness in her sleeper car, whereupon she asked for help, we are told!

The human fascination with keeping exotic wild cats of all sizes, especially the big cats, is not confined to any single country, clearly. We know that some Americans like to keep exotic animals including wild cats as pets and it seems that some Russians feel the same way.

You wonder how this lady got hold of a lioness in the first place. She should never have been able to obtain a lioness as a cub. And she shouldn’t have been able to register the lion as a pet domestic cat. Do people have to register pet cats in Russia? It got worse from that point onwards by the sound of it.

It all seems a bit lax to me from the beginning of the story to the end of it. No doubt a number of railway employees are being interrogated at this minute as to how they allowed it all do happen. The true loser: the lion of course.

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20 thoughts on “Lioness cub runs wild on Russian train in Urals”

  1. It goes without saying that keeping a wild cat in captivity is just wrong.
    I expect that 99% of these cats are declawed too.
    So, what happens to these poor cats when the “owners” become bored with them or find they are too difficult or expensive to maintain? They can’t be released to the wild. They have no claws and, may, even be neutered.
    That’s pretty much what I commented on in the article about the woman who went to court to keep her bobcat.
    In her case, I hope she keeps Rocky for life, because he’s doomed if she doesn’t.
    https://pictures-of-cats.org/new-jersey-lady-can-keep-her-bobcat.html

    Reply
    • I HATE any vet who would neuter a wild cat and I DOUBLY HATE any vet who would declaw one and I DESPISE anyone who thinks ‘owning’ a wild cat or breeding from one is acceptable.
      So there!

      Reply
      • I love your comment…
        HATE, DOUBLY HATE, DESPISE!

        Now, don’t hold back, girl.

        And, she’s off like a rocket. Skywriting her messages, sprinkling anti-declaw dust all over the planet, waving her magic wand and turning evil vets into experimental mice, banishing the AVMA to a deserted island where rats gnaw off their fingers…

        It’s a wonderful world afterall.

        Reply
      • Totally agree. By the way I asked my vet to agree to an interview on declawing. I ask the receptionists to ask the vets (there are 4 I think). I don’t think there is much of it being a Yes. But I have tried.

        Reply
        • No luck here either Michael, I don’t think they are even interested 🙁
          I wish I could resurrect my wise old vet, I’ll never forget his reaction to the only client who ever asked to have her cat declawed. He was Scottish and when he was angry he was almost unintelligable lol but the gist of it was that she was out of her tiny mind if she thought he would do that to any cat. He blasted her into space, I think she’s still up there somewhere even now, floating around with her ears ringing 😉

          Reply
          • My old vet too, R, with his thick southern drawl.
            He was too much of a gentleman to curse, but his messages were clear.

            Reply
            • Oh yes, the good old days of gentlemen vets!
              Mine would shout and even throw things around in a temper, but I got his measure lol I only had to put my coat on and say I’d had enough and he would apologise ‘Don’t go Ruthie Ruth’ He always called me that ‘Give yourself a rise in this week’s pay’ lol
              But he never got mad at any animal, only at cruel people.

              Reply
  2. For sure a law needs to be passed world wide that NO ONE can buy or own a wild animal of any kind.They are not to be locked in a cage or walked on on a leash. Rich people think having them is a status symbol and that they can buy anything they wants. They need to hear the word NO more often !

    Reply
    • Here here. Totally agree. There should be a complete ban worldwide on individuals keeping wild cats as pets or in anyway. Then ban all zoos as well…shall I go on? We need a complete rethink about or relationship with nature.

      Reply
  3. Stupid cruel woman, I hope that poor lioness has some freedom from a cage wherever she is now.
    This story only goes to show that any ignorant irresponsible person can ‘own’ a wild cat even though they haven’t the slightest idea how to care for them. The poor creature must have been terrified on a train.
    It’s time a law was passed worldwide to stop this cruelty. Wild cats should belong to no one and belong nowhere but in the wild!

    Reply
  4. The ultra wealthy Russians really live life as do the Americans and i witnessed this first hand during my tour of Vietnam in 2013. The small exotic fishing village town of Mui Ne in Vietnam was literally owned by Russians and the exotic food menu on display included live snakes.Similarly owning exotic pets could be a pet hobby of the super rich in Russia and this cub must have been purchased illegally since the lady did not want to disclose its identity.Its sad that wealthy owners do not realize the hazards of owning wild animals.Its more injustice to the wild cub than to its human owner whose pet was confiscated. Hope the cub is released or maintained in a zoo and not “EUTHANIZED” as were some zoo exhibits in a Denmark zoo.Maintenance of a pet cat is expensive and i can imagine the cost of maintenance of a lion throughout its life.

    Reply
    • The ultra wealthy Russians really live life as do the Americans

      Good point and they like to have the trappings of wealth including exotic pets. It is, as I constantly say: self-indulgent behavior. People indulging in something that amuses them with a disregard for the welfare of the animal.

      Reply
  5. An awful story in fact, one woman’s ego has caused a lot of trouble for the railway and a lot of misery no doubt for the lioness, whether caged by the stupid woman “owner” or by the authorities or at a zoo the outcome for the lioness is confinement.

    Reply

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