(Tourists interact with a one-month-old lion cub at an animal café in Bangkok, Thailand. /CFP)

(Tourists play with a lion cub inside the café. /CFP)

Recently, a video showing tourists interacting closely with lion cubs at a café in Bangkok, Thailand went viral on social media, drawing widespread attention. This café allows visitors to share a room with juvenile lions, take photos, feed them, and even hug them. While this special experience has spread rapidly across short video platforms, it has also sparked growing debate over animal welfare, public safety, and legal oversight.

(An eight-day-old lion cub is fed milk at a breeding facility in Thailand. /CFP)

(A one-month-old lion cub waits to be fed at a breeding facility in Thailand. /CFP)

According to a joint report by Thai animal protection organizations, the number of captive lions in Thailand has surged from 131 in 2018 to an estimated 444 by the end of 2024, a staggering 239% increase. Media reports suggest the latest registered number is close to 500. These lions are kept in 82 facilities across the country, including national zoos, private zoos, breeding farms, cafés, restaurants, and even private homes. The number of households privately keeping lions has jumped from just 2 in 2018 to 28 in 2024, more than a thirteenfold increase.

(Thanuwat Phloenkumrach, a mechanic shop owner in Chiang Mai, Thailand, interacts with his pet liger Big George. He also shares his experiences of raising exotic pets on TikTok. /CFP)

(Thanuwat Phloenkumrach interacts with his pet lion Jam. /CFP)

Online, owning lions has become a way for influencers to show off wealth and attract followers. Short videos of people posing, hugging, or petting lions have become increasingly common in Thailand, with many businesses using lion encounters as a tourist attraction. Most of these lions are captive-bred white lions, with prices ranging from $7,500 to $15,000 each. Reports indicate that over a hundred lion cubs enter the Thai market each year, fueling a hidden industry worth millions of dollars.

(At a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand, a staff member plays with two lionesses inside an enclosure. These two female lions were confiscated due to incomplete documentation. /CFP)

(Mechanic shop owner Thanuwat Phloenkumrach looks at one of his former pet lions, which was preserved as a taxidermy specimen after its death a few years ago. /CFP)

Thai law requires captive lions to be microchipped and registered. However, once these lions grow up and are no longer suitable for tourist interaction, they are often resold or bought back, making their final whereabouts unclear. Studies show that around 41% of captive lions go missing within a year, some may enter the black market, be smuggled abroad, or even slaughtered for their bones and pelts.

(Tourists interact with a lion cub at an animal café in Bangkok, Thailand. /CFP)

The booming popularity of “lion cub cafés” may appear to offer a novel consumer experience, but it reflects the rapid expansion of Thailand’s captive lion industry. Whether this trend continues unchecked or is brought under strict regulation will not only determine the fate of these lions—it also raises deeper questions about the relationship between humans and nature.