A Malaysian singer, who kept a rare bear in her flat because she thought it was a dog, had been arrested.
Zarith Sofia Yasin was arrested after it was revealed that the 27-year-old had been keeping a baby sun bear in her flat in Kuala Lumpur.
Sun bears have been listed as ‘vulnerable’ by the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The musician said she took the baby bear to her home so that she can nurse it to health. She found the little animal two weeks before on the city outskirts.
She had even named it Bruno and had decided to release it into the wild once it gets healthier.
Zarith, who rose to fame after appearing on talent show Rockanova, said: “It was night time when I found the bear cub in a weakened state by the side of the road, and I thought it was a dog.
“I know the bear cannot be reared, it can’t be kept as a pet. I only wanted to save the bear, I had no intention of exploiting it.
“I was worried about sending Bruno to the zoo because the animals there look skinny.”
Zarith’s flat was raided by authorities after one of her neighbors reported that she might be keeping the 6-month-old baby bear.
Her neighbors had heard the sound of the bear cub and someone was even able to capture a photo of the animal sticking out its head from her apartment window.
Though Zarith had harbored the cub to take care of its health and she also didn’t know about its true identity, the singer could still face some really harsh penalties.
Keeping an endangered animal without a permit in Malaysia is punished by jail time of 10 years and/or a fine of around 200,000 Malaysian Ringgit ($48,000).
Besides harboring the animal, Zarith is also charged with keeping it in an unsuitable environment – something which carries a penalty of one year in prison and/or a fine ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 Ringgits ($1,200 to $12,000).
During her appearance in court, Zarith pleaded not guilty to her charges. She also testified that she just wanted to care for the cub and had no plans of selling it.
Zarith said: “I have a business to run during the day and at night I sing. When do I have time to sell animals? This is not the way I make a living.
“Animals like that are not for sale. I didn’t put him in a cage because I didn’t want him to stay there for too long – that would have been even more cruel.
“If Bruno could talk, he would surely say the food I gave him was delicious. He ate chocolates!”
The singer has been released on bail.
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