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Lions, tigers become problem pets in the Gulf
Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- On a dusty day in the northern-most Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, 40-year-old Jasim Ali wrestles playfully with his four-legged friend Teymour over a chew toy. But Teymour is not a dog -- he's a fully-grown African lion.
"There is a special language, I can say, between him and I," said Ali.
Ali rescuedTeymour from a farm where, he says, he was a neglected pet.
"I treated him differently than how he had been treated before. So, a love story began between us. He would only eat if he saw me there. If I wasn't there, you would feel he was upset. He would wait for me."
With an African lion, love can be tough. Ali said he's been bitten several times -- always during play --- and although he trustsTeymour implicitly, he always treats him with caution and respect. Ali's main concern during playtime is that one of Teymour's claws may accidentally come out. "He could tear my flesh," he said.

Ali manages the Ras Al Khaimah Wildlife Park, set up a few years ago under the patronage of Sheikh Taleb bin Saqr Al Qasimi, one of the Ras Al Khaimah's royals. He has been adopting neglected andmistreated animals for more than 15 years.
Many of those animals, including Teymour, are endangered or exotic, and were initially bought on the black market.
Owning an endangered animal as a pet is illegal in the United Arab Emirates, a signatory of the Convention on the Illegal Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). However, the trade in endangered wildlife remains a problem in the Gulf, where owningexpensive exotic pets, especially big cats, is the ultimate status symbol. A rare white lion sells for around $50,000 on the black market, Abu Dhabi Wildlife Center.
None of the pet owners we approached would speak on the record about illegally purchasing exotic animals, but many amateur videos uploaded online attest to their popularity among young men in the Gulf.
In one YouTube clip that waswidely viewed in the region, a man frightens his friend by chasing him around the living room with a chained lioness. Another clip shows a group of men walking a cheetah on a leash in an indoor location. There's even a man trying to ride a fully grown lion.
It is all about bragging rights for the men buying these animals, says Ali.
"If someone buys a very expensive animal, he is boasting that he hasenough money to get anything he wants," he said. "If he has a tamed wild animal like a lion, he is trying to show off that he is brave. But this is not courage; this is animal rights abuse."
It has largely fallen on private individuals like Ali, backed by the government, to care for neglected illegally obtained animals.
If someone buys a very expensive animal, he is boasting that he has enoughmoney to get anything he wants
Jasim Ali, Ras Al Khaimah Wildlife Park
More than 200 illegal animals in the United Arab Emirates were confiscated alive by the authorities in 2010, according to CITES. Most big cats are sent to the Abu Dhabi Wildlife Center, which is privately funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahayan, a member of Abu Dhabi's ruling family.
The large cages harbor a staggeringvariety of rare animals -- white lions, white tigers, black jaguars, cheetahs, baboons and wolves -- to name a few.
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Ayesha Kelaif shoulders the burden of smaller animals.
The the petite mother of four cares for almost 300 animals as varied as iguanas, alpacas, foxes, monkeys and pheasants in her residential villathat doubles up as the Dubai Animal Rescue Center. All the animals were abandoned or rescued and some are exotic and endangered.
Her closest friend, an endangered South American macaw named Rio, was abandoned in a cardboard box in a parking lot. Rio sits perched on her shoulder throughout the interview, pecking at the microphone.
Relying on help from volunteers, Kelaif spends most of her income...