Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Authorities in the Netherlands said a jogger out for a morning run found a caged lion cub abandoned in a meadow.

Local police said in a Facebook post that a jogger out Sunday morning found the lion cub in a small cage in a meadow in the Burgemeester Huijdecoperweg area of Tienhoven.


Investigators believe the lion cub, estimated to be about five months old, was dumped in the meadow by an unknown person and they are appealing to the public in the hopes of finding witnesses.

The healthy cub was taken to a wildlife sanctuary with experience caring for exotic big cats and the investigation has been turned over to NVWA, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.