A one-and-half-month-old lion cub was found by police in a wooden box in the luggage compartment of a bus to Moscow during a routine check.

None of the passengers on the bus claimed ownership of the animal.

The driver of the bus said that he accepted the box from unidentified men who asked that it be transported to Moscow.

The police have seized the lion cub and passed it to the care of a local police dog section.

Wild lion populations once ranged from Eurasia, Africa and North America but today they have been reduced mainly to sub-Saharan Africa.

Cubs are usually able to walk around when they are about three weeks old. One and half months after birth is about the time that their mother brings them back to join others in the pride.

(All images via VCG)

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