A famished lynx cub just a day from starving to death is recovering after being found hiding in a barn.

The cub – believed to be eight weeks old – weighed just 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 lbs) when it was discovered in a forest park on 9th July in Steinwald nature park, southeastern Germany.

Experts believe its mother had been killed, possibly in a fight with a wild marten which also bit the cub on one of its earliest trips out of its den.

Martens are aggressive weasel-type mammals that live in the same deep forest territories as lynx.

Vet Dr Hubert Reindl – from Moosbach, Bavaria State – told Newsflash: “Its mum has quite certainly been killed.

“The young one probably has been on its own for a week. It eventually hid in a barn close to a neighbourhood.”

Heart-touching pictures of the cub’s recovery show him with a drip and wolfing down dishes of prime cuts of meat.

Dr Reindi added: “It nearly famished. The lynx was totally dehydrated and emaciated.

“My team and I are currently looking after it.

“The baby lynx receives infusions, antibiotics and painkillers. We’ll keep it here for another week or two.”

The veterinarian added: “It will then be taken to a breeding station in Lower Saxony where experts will get it ready for its release into the wild in around one year.”

The lynx cub – nicknamed ‘Luchsi’ (Luchs is German for lynx) by carers at the vet’s office – is making up for lost meals with a diet of raw meat.

Dr Reindl told local media that a bite wound on the cub’s shoulder could have been caused when it tried to defend its mum.

He said: “It could have been a marten. There was a purulent bite wound on its shoulder. Infant animals usually do not have this kind of injury.”

Dr Reindl added: “I think ‘Luchsi’ would have famished had it been discovered on the next day.”

The vet explained that lynx cubs stay in their den for seven to eight weeks before being taken on first forays by their mum.

Asked why the lynx cub hid in a barn, Dr Reindl said: “Their instincts tell them there could be food such as chickens.”

The Bavarian Forest and the Upper Palatinate Forest – the region where the cub was found – are home to around 70 lynx, according to environmentalists.

But the wildcat species has also been spotted in other German states including Hesse, Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg.