A Pakistan Zoo has cancelled plans to sell 12 Lions in its ever-growing pride private buyers, saying that it would rather build new enclosures for the huge cats.

The auction set for Thursday has drawn a snub from the WWF and urged officials of the Lahore Safari Zoo to instead move them into other wildlife parks run by the government.

“The principal reason behind the auction was the shortage of space” the deputy director Tanvir Ahmed Janjua told AFP on Wednesday. He also said that officials have decided to accelerate construction of two enclosures.

“Now since this issue is expected to be solved soon there is no need for auctions to be held.”

Over 200 acres of land, Lahore Safari Zoo is widely regarded as one of the best in the nation – Zoos are known for their disregard for animal welfare.

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Another auction is possible?

Its Lahore facility is the home of 29 lions with six resident tigers as well as two jaguars.

Zoo officials had set a limit that was 150,000 Pakistan rupees ($700) per cat, which is roughly the same as a cow. However, they they hoped that each cat would fetch two million rupees when auctioned.

Keep tigers, lions, and other animals as pets is common in Pakistan and is regarded as an act of respect.

Wealthy owners share photos and videos of their cats on social mediasites, and lease them as props for films or photography shoots.

Janjua claimed that the opposition of animal rights groups has led to the decision to end the auction.

“Should the lions reproduce more and we find that we’re running out of space We could easily conduct yet another auction,”” He said.