In Pakistan, rich city dwellers flaunt their wealth by keeping lions and other ‘exotic’ species as pets, status symbols

Bilal Mansoor Khawaja beams as he runs his palms over the ivory coat of a white lion, one of thousands of exotic animals at his personal “zoo” in Karachi, where a thriving wildlife trade caters to Pakistan’s gilded elite.“These are … (some) of the rarest animals I own,” boasts the 29-year-old industrialist of his leashed lion.Pakistani laws make it easy to import exotic animals, but once inside the country regulation is almost non-existent.This has led to an untold number of such creatures –…