This is the moment a grateful young lion enjoyed having its belly rubbed after police rescued the cub from a chiller truck in Russia.

Customs cops had stopped the lorry on its way to Kazakhstan on December 4 and were astonished to find the smuggled cub inside the refrigerated compartment.

Officers found that the driver had none of the veterinary or legal documents needed to transport a big cat.

Video footage shot after the rescue show the large cub rolling in its back like a tame pussy cat as two offices pet it.

One officer drapes the lion's huge paw over his arm to show the size of its claws while the other tickles its tummy.

Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance for the Orenburg Region said in a statement on December 6: 'Due to the lack of information about the origin of the animal and the presence of signs of smuggling, the offender and the animal were handed over to employees of the Department of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Pervomaisky district of the Orenburg region.'

The driver reportedly told the police that he had bought the vehicle in the Samara region from an unknown man.

Local media reports that the lion is in good health and it is expected to be found a new home in a wildlife centre.

An investigation is ongoing.