Police are investigating an after abandoned lion cub was discovered by a jogger in central Netherlands.

According to the BBC, the cub was found in a small cage outside the city of Utrecht.

Vet Peter Klaver told RTL Nieuws that he had never seen anything like it.

"I have travelled all over the world to stun animals, even lions and tigers, but I've never experienced anything like this," he said.

He said the lion could have escaped the cage.

"But in the end it was possible to put the lion, the cage and everything into the car, so it wasn't necessary to stun it," he said.

Local police have asked for witnesses to shed some light on how a lion ended up in a cage in central Netherlands.

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The response to the police tweet included people suggesting names for the lion.

Several people on Twitter also lashed out at the person or people who dumped the lion cub, saying if the jogger didn't discover the animal it would have starved to death.