Russian woman lets lion cub loose on train

A WOMAN who smuggled a 50-kilogram lion cub onto a sleeper train claiming it was a domestic cat is being questioned by police.

Monarto Zoo is abuzz with excitement today as it prepares to celebrate the first birthday of its adorable lion cubs - Jelani, Husani and Nia (1yr) and Mlinzi and sister Makena (10.5 months). They are pictured with mums Tiombe and Kiambia. Pic: Tricia Watkinson. Zoo keepers have gone to great lengths in preparing for the cubsÕ big day creating a heap of enrichment presents and tasty treats, which generate a great deal of excitement amongst the pride.

A WOMAN who smuggled a 50-kilogram lion cub onto a sleeper train claiming it was a domestic cat is being questioned by police.

The big cat was exposed after it began behaving aggressively early on Thursday on a passenger train heading for the city of Yekaterinburg 1400 kilometres east of Moscow, police said.

The lion cub’s female owner “could not cope with the situation and it was necessary to urgently isolate the animal which was running wild,” police said.

“The lion cub had first been kept in a cage but then the woman accompanying it for some reason let the animal out,” a police spokesman told the Interfax news agency.

“When the animal, which was being transported without a muzzle, started behaving wildly, the woman couldn’t control it.

She shut it in her sleeper car and asked the train staff for help.”

The woman faced questioning on “how she carried a 50-kilogram, nine-month-old lion registered in travel documents as ... a domestic cat,” police said.

Police said they would also question rail staff who “without proper checks allowed cargo on board that was so dangerous for surrounding people.”