A Chinese tourist has been bitten by a lion cub at a cafe in Phuket. Staff said a rabies jab was not needed. The tourist paid for one anyway.
The case has reopened debate in China over the safety of cafes that use big cats as a paid attraction.
The tourist first described the incident on Chinese social media. The cub bit their arm and broke the skin during a paid session, they said. Staff wiped the wound with iodine and told them the cafe’s lions had been vaccinated.
On 10 August, the Chinese outlet Xiaoxiang Morning Herald spoke to the tourist directly. They said they remained uneasy despite the assurance, and paid for the vaccine themselves in Thailand. They have had no serious health problems since, but did develop a fever and arm pain after the injection.
Fever and soreness at the injection site are common side effects of the rabies vaccine. They do not mean the treatment has failed.
The account spread quickly across Chinese platforms including Sina, NetEase, Tencent News and Sohu. Many users urged travellers not to take the risk.
One widely shared comment said a lion cub was still a wild animal, and could injure people while playing or teething. Anyone bitten or scratched should wash the wound at once and go to hospital, whatever staff told them.
No Chinese report has named the cafe, and Thaiger has not been able to identify it.
The rabies risk
Thai health guidance treats any bite or scratch that breaks the skin as a possible rabies exposure. The advice is to wash the wound with soap and running water, then get vaccinated as soon as possible. That holds whatever the owner says about the animal’s jabs.
The risk is small. The consequences are not. Rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms appear, and there is no treatment at that stage. Thailand records deaths most years, including a man in Ubon Ratchathani who died in May after a puppy scratched him.
Phuket café’s lion cub sparks police and wildlife officers manhunt
The law on keeping lions
Lion cafes have spread through Phuket, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in recent years. For a few hundred to a few thousand baht, visitors can sit with cubs at close range and take photographs.
Lions count as controlled wildlife under Thailand’s Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act. Keepers need permission to own them, and the animals must stay at the address where they are registered.
Enforcement has been patchy. Officials seized a cub known as Nong Kiwi in February 2024, after finding it had never been registered and was kept below the required standard.
Police raided a cafe in Ratsada, Phuket, in January 2025, where cubs were used for paid photo sessions. Officers arrested two Chinese nationals who had entered on tourist visas and were working without permits.
Operators say their standards are sound. The Department of National Parks says it inspects registered premises and monitors them regularly.
Neither of those earlier cases is linked to the incident reported this week.
Related news
Ubon Ratchathani man dies from rabies after puppy scratch
Nakhon Ratchasima sees rise in rabies cases, urges public vigilance
Black panther cub seized in Mae Sot sting operation
Sources: China.com
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