On Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 10:24 AM, the Beltrami County Sheriff's Communications Center received a report of two young lion cubs wrestling with a dog in a yard in southern Beltrami County on Hwy 2 East. Deputies responding to the area, along with the owners of Paul Bunyan Animal Land, were able to locate the cubs and return them to their home.
Spring cleaning of the Animal Land facility was in progress. The two cubs, 6 month old males who are hand fed and respond to their names, Marjan and Aslan, were out for a walk. They had been playing in their temporary pen and their combined weight managed to bump a gate open. The cubs followed the deputies and owners back to their regular pen. "No injuries or harm was found," according to the Beltrami County Emergency Management office.
