The lion cub rescued from a car on Belghoria Expressway is running around at the Alipore zoo hospital, occasionally snuggling up to a keeper for a round of body massage.

The three-month-old male cub, which vets suspect has never lived away from human beings, did not take much time in warming up to the keepers. It was extremely stressed and nervous for the first few days but has recovered since and been eating normally, an official at the hospital said.

He is also taking instructions from the keepers.

The vets and keepers at the hospital have named the cub Simba.

On June 1, the Asiatic Lion cub and three langurs were found trapped in nylon bags stitched on both sides in a Mahindra Scorpio. The car was intercepted on Belghoria Expressway near Kendriya Vihar Housing Complex in Dakshineswar around 2am. Three men in the car were arrested.

Officials said the animals were sedated and had been smuggled in from Bangladesh through the Petrapole border. They suspect the cub and the langurs were being taken to a private zoo in western India.

The rescued animals were taken to the zoo hospital. The cub had been kept in a cage meant for ailing tigers, where it kept growling throughout the day, became restless and refused to eat anything.

The vets and keepers at the hospital realised that the cub was craving for human company. The intensity of the screams would come down in the presence of people.

On the fourth day of his stay at the hospital, the cage was unlocked and the door of the room where the cage was kept was bolted. The cub came out of the cage and kept running around in the presence of a vet and a couple of keepers.

“The cub became less restless after being released from the cage. Since then, the authorities were allowing the cub to stay outside the cage for 20 to 30 minutes multiple times in a day.... The keeper cuddles the cub like a baby and he seems to be enjoying the massage,” a vet at the hospital said.

The zoo hospital is home to scores of animals and birds. But none of the keepers could remember the last time they petted a lion cub.

Simba, who was refusing to eat for the first few days and only had ORS, has now been feasting on 1.5kg of chicken twice a day.

The three langurs — one Javan and two White Headed — are recovering from trauma and stress, the vet said. One of the White Headed langurs suffered from an acute infection in its tail.

The langur was administered antibiotics and other medicines. “The infection has been controlled,” the vet said.

The simians are on a diet that mainly comprises fruits and some greens — cabbage, lettuce, carrot, apple, grape and dates.

The usual quarantine period is three weeks and the animals will be shifted to the zoo after that, an official said.

“But since the matter is sub-judice, they will be kept out of public view for now,” zoo director Asis Kumar Samanta said.