Justin Bieber criticised by PETA after posing with lion cub before Toronto show

Justin Bieber has been slammed by PETA once again - after the singer was photographed playing with a lion cub before a homecoming gig in Toronto.

In a series of photos posted to Instagram, the singer can be seen cradling the white lion cub in his arms and feeding it with a bottle.

The photos were posted by the lion cub's owner, Alex Haditaghi, who captioned the photo: '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!'

Somebody else is also in love with my baby! Working towards building Canada's biggest animal sanctuary! @alexhearmeroar #justin #justinbieber #bieberfever #bieber #toronto #babylion #whitelion #mynameisAlex #kittyA photo posted by Alex Haditaghi (@alexhaditaghi) on May 18, 2016 at 4:20pm PDT

But the singer has now been criticised by animal rights group PETA, who described the act as 'cruelty, not conservation.'

The act comes only weeks after Bieber was previously criticised for posing with a chained tiger at his father's engagement party in Toronto.

In a statement to NME.com, Lisa Lange, Senior Vice President of Communications at PETA US said: "Nearly three weeks after posing with animals from an outfit whose owner is facing five counts of cruelty for mercilessly whipping a tiger, Justin Bieber is at it again.

"He apparently posed with the same baby lion who had been paraded at his father's engagement party and torn away from his mother shortly after birth—putting his life at risk so that he could be exploited for photo ops with clueless celebrities. This is cruelty, not conservation, and it's time for Bieber to say "Sorry" for endorsing the sleazy exotic-animals trade."

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