Anthony Crapet: Frenchman says he has been 'destroyed' after authorities confiscated his pet lion, Ciam

The 36-year-old had been keeping a 14-month-old lion in a cage at the bottom of his garden for seven months

Ciam the lion en route to his new home in Belgium (Natuurhulpcentrum)

A Frenchman has been arrested after threatening to kill himself if authorities take away his pet lion - which has been living secretly in his garden for seven months.

Anthony Crapet, 36, said he would “shoot himself in the head” as police attempted to storm his home in Mèze, southern France to remove his lion, Ciam, according to the regional newspaper Midi Libre.

The police were forced to withdraw temporarily after spending four hours trying to reason with Mr Crapet.

He has now been charged with unlawful confinement of a protected animal and the lion has since been removed.

Ciam is being cared for by an animal charity in Belgium.

He claims the 14-month-old, 300lbs (140kg) lion was a gift from a circus manager to him and his family and he has spent the last seven months hiding him away in a wire cage in the garden.

Police were alerted after a neighbour spotted the beast.

Mr Crapet insists the lion never leaves the cage and his three children are not in any danger.

Animal expert Guy Deldem, who is a member of the local veterinary association, told the Local: “It’s neither a cat nor a dog. It’s a wild animal that’s not designed to live with a man communally. He needs to look into the future: this beast will remain a cat that behaves like a wild animal.”

He recounted a similar incident in the area during the 1980s where a man kept a lion in his home which later ate him and warned the same was bound to happen again.

He said he and his wife were “destroyed” by the lost of their pet and he feels Ciam was “stolen” from them.

He told La Depeche du Midi newspaper: “I have three children. I knew the danger. We weren’t born yesterday, my wife and I grew up around beasts. My mother was in the circus. I have spent more than 20,000 euros for that cage which is now useless.”

He said he now has to go to another criminal hearing in December. If he is found guilty he is likely to face a prison sentence.