Boomer was raised in the home of Dennis Day. Here, he is being fed by Hannah Yackobeck, 8, the daughter of Day's girlfriend Sonya Eady, as Hannah's sister Miranda looks on. (Dennis Day) (CBC)

An Ontario man is demanding that a lion cub recaptured near Maniwaki, Que., early Thursday morning after an intensive police search be returned to him.

Dennis Day, who runs an exotic animal business about 100 kilometres west of Ottawa, told CBC News Thursday that Boomer the lion was raised in his home and still belongs to him.

The seven-month-old, 70 kilogram male African lion escaped from the Kitigan Zibi Algonquin First Nation reserve near Maniwaki Tuesday evening after being taken out for a walk, but was captured by Kitigan Zibi and Quebec provincial police officers early Thursday morning. Police and Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources officials announced Thursday that the animal is to be sent to the Granby Zoo, east of Montreal.

Day said he would not let that happen.

Dennis Day says he bought Boomer from a private zoo in southern Ontario when the lion cub was three days old. (CBC)

“Boomer’s not going to a zoo. They’ve got to come through me before they do that,” he said, adding that he has talked to a lawyer about the situation. “I still own this cat. This cat was only being babysat.”

Day said that as of Thursday afternoon, Quebec police had not returned his calls.

Day said he runs a horse breeding business at his 100-acre property near Cobden, Ont., and cares for exotic animals as a sideline.

In the past, he has kept chimpanzees and giraffes, but at the moment, he has nothing more exotic than llamas and alpacas.

Day said he bought Boomer from a zoo in southern Ontario in September, when the cub was only three days old. He raised Boomer at home with his family, which includes children, feeding him from a bottle.

Boomer the lion struggles with wildlife officials while leaving the Kitigan Zibi police station, where he spent the night in a cell block. (CBC)

However, problems arose when Boomer scratched the young daughter of a woman who was staying with the family, prompting the girl’s father to call health authorities, Day said.

“The Children’s Aid come in and told me that I couldn’t have my kids with Boomer or I was gonna lose my kids,” said Day.

The family sent the animal to live temporarily with his friend Stanley Whiteduck on the Kitigan Zibi reserve. He had been there only two days before he escaped.

On Thursday, officials from the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources, Quebec provincial police and Granby Zoo announced at a news conference in Gatineau, Que., that Boomer will be temporarily cared for at the zoo, which already has a male and three female lions.

Boomer will be examined by a veterinarian and quarantined at the zoo for 30 or 40 days while the zoo decides what to do with it, said Alain Fafard, the zoo’s animal care director.

Boomer was not aggressive when officers approached him and no one was injured. (CBC)

After that, he may be sent to another zoo.

In the meantime, Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources spokesman Jocelyn Martel said officials are trying to determine where the animal came from.

“The investigation will be done … and if somebody kept this animal without [a] licence, for sure they’re going to be fined for it.”

Boomer’s escape Tuesday evening prompted the closures of schools and daycares in the area. Police issued public warnings about the animal and set up a security perimeter. A helicopter equipped with a heat-seeking camera was also deployed to help with the search.

The lion was captured by Quebec provincial police officers around 12:45 a.m. Thursday after a woman spotted him hiding in a ditch along Highway 105 and called police.

Officers were able to get a rope around Boomer's neck and led him into the back seat of a cruiser. He was taken to the Kitigan Zibi police station, where he spent the night in a jail cell until wildlife officials could take custody of him.

He was not aggressive when officers approached and no one was injured.

With files from the Canadian Press