German thief unwittingly steals circus lion

A circus lion called Caesar is fighting fit again after an ordeal that saw the van he was being transported in stolen in Germany by an unwitting thief, his keepers said.

The Mercedes Transporter containing Circus Probst's ferocious five-year-old feline star was recovered in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Wuppertal in western Germany after crashing into a road sign, police said.

Hours earlier it had been stolen from among the circus's other vehicles, with the thief, who remains on the loose, apparently unaware of the nature of his stolen cargo.



It was unknown whether the thief becoming aware of Caesar's presence, perhaps through a hungry roar, had caused him or her to crash the vehicle and then abandon it with the engine still running.

Police then towed the van away, also unaware of its feline freight and it wasn't until midday on Wednesday that Caesar was returned to his rightful owners, more than 12 hours after his adventure began.

"Caesar is fine. We're not worried about him," circus spokesman Laurens Thoen said. "Since yesterday afternoon he has been in his enclosure at the circus."