Justin Bieber has again been criticized by PETA after the singer was photographed cuddling with a lion cub.
Bieber was snapped playing with Alex the Lion before his homecoming Toronto concert Wednesday (May 18) night.
The white lion cub's owner, Alex Haditaghi, shared the moment in a pair of Instagram posts. He captioned one: "After being fed by Justin Bieber, Alex is one of JB's biggest fans! Justin really cares about the conservation of these beautiful animals! He is truly a class act and awesome guy!."
A video posted by Alex Haditaghi (@alexhaditaghi) on
However, PETA doesn't see the lighter side of it. “This is cruelty, not conservation, and it's time for @justinbieber to say 'Sorry' for endorsing the sleazy exotic-animals trade," the organization tweeted.
This is cruelty, not conservation, and it's time for @justinbieber to say "Sorry" for endorsing the sleazy exotic-animals trade.
— PETA (@peta) May 19, 2016
Just days earlier, the Canadian pop star came under fire from PETA for posing with a chained Bengal tiger, which the animal welfare group claimed was an abused animal on loan from a local zoo. Bieber has run into trouble in the past with exotic pets including his pet monkey, Mally, which was briefly seized by German customs authorities when the singer failed to produce the required papers while on tour.
Bieber clearly has a thing for big cats. He recently shared an image of his new bling: a diamond-studded Cartier necklace shaped into a jaguar's head.