Lions Are Roaring Success as Security System in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil —  Saladino de Souza Gonzalez says he has the perfect solution for Brazilians wanting to protect their homes from burglars: guard lions.

“With a lion for a guard, the thief may enter but he won’t leave,” said Gonzalez, a 45-year-old book wholesaler from Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s third-largest city.

Gonzalez has raised lions for the last 10 years on his farm in the interior. He said Brazil’s soaring crime rate has helped create a steady demand.

“I recommend a large back yard, the construction of a gate and plenty of space. Then let them roam free at night,” Gonzalez said in a telephone interview. Three lions guard Gonzalez’s home.

Gonzalez started with three lions smuggled from Africa and raises a litter every three months. When the cubs are 30 days old, he puts them up for sale for $300, using classified ads. So far, he has sold 30 lions.

“They adapt remarkably well to life at home. I never have a problem selling them,” he said.

Gonzalez said a baby lion needs to be fed two to three big chickens a day, supplemented with a few cans of dog food. Adult lions require four chickens and about nine pounds of meat daily, which can run to about $250 a month.

Keeping lions at home is legal in Brazil, said Capt. Allan Salazar of the Forestry Police in Minas Gerais, of which Belo Horizonte is the capital. He said non-native animals are unprotected by law.

“Exotic animals can be kept at home if conditions are good. The owner is responsible for security and the animal’s actions,” he said.

Gonzalez says he visits the homes of all his clients after they buy their lions to make sure that there are no problems.

“Lions are as loyal as dogs. In fact, I recommend getting a dog to keep your lion company because they learn to play together,” he said.

He said lions are no problem with children either, as long as the animal is purchased “when small, so they can get used to each other.”

And he says a lion-guarded home is a safe home.

“Thieves are smart. They always scope out their targets--if there’s a lion on the premises they won’t try robbing the house,” he said.

One happy customer is Ana Maria Conceicao de Oliveira, who lives with her husband, 13-year-old daughter and “Mikey,” the 20-month-old family lion, which occupies a large pen in the back yard.

“We bought Mikey to scare away burglars and I’m sure no thief would enter our house. People around the neighborhood know we have a lion so the word is out,” she said.

Her daughter, Raquel Christina, plays with the lion in the back yard and feeds him a daily ration of 20 pounds of chicken necks, lungs, hearts and kidneys.

“Burglars are afraid of dogs. Imagine how they would feel about Mikey,” she said.

Gonzalez denies having any problems with customers, but the Rio newspaper Jornal do Brasil reported at least one woman was unhappy with her lion and resold it because it had ripped up her bathroom when she gave it a bath.

“In practice, I learned that a lion is a lion and a dog is a dog,” said the woman, identified only as Maria Celia. “A lion is temperamental and difficult, very different from a puppy.”