German police are on the hunt for what they believe is an escaped lioness that was spotted on the outskirts of Berlin last night. Local residents have been warned to stay indoors as police patrols, helicopters, hunters and veterinarians search for the wild animal, according to a press release from Brandenburg police.
Police believe the animal may be an escaped pet, since no zoos, circuses, or animal centres have reported any missing lions.
Authorities first learned of the lioness on the loose when video footage emerged of what appeared to be a wild boar and lion chasing each other.
“Around midnight we received a notification that we couldn’t believe,” Brandenburg police spokesperson Daniel Keip told local broadcaster RBB.
“Two passersby spotted an animal chasing after another. One was a wild boar and the other appeared to be a big cat, a lion. The two men recorded a video on their phones and even experienced police officers had to confirm that we are probably dealing with a lion,” Kiep said.
No boar carcass has been found. The alleged video of the boar and lioness has not been released to the public.
Authorities believe the wild cat could currently be asleep in one of the many lakeland forests in Brandenburg, the state that surrounds Germany’s capital.
A video that surfaced on Twitter on Wednesday appeared to show a lioness in a forest in Kleinmachnow, a municipality southwest of Berlin where the animal was first spotted. Police have deemed the video credible, the BBC reported.
“We recommend that people shouldn’t leave the house to walk and especially not to go jogging in the forest,” said Michael Gruber, mayor of Kleinmachnow.
Brandenburg police advised people living in Kleinmachnow, Stahnsdorf and Teltow to be vigilant, stay indoors and refrain from walking in the woods until the animal can be found. Pets and farm animals should also be kept inside. These warnings were issued to residents via social media and loudspeaker announcements in the area.
Nurseries were allowed to open on Thursday but were urged to not let children play outside, the Guardian reported.
The operation to track down the lioness has so far involved two helicopters, drones and infrared cameras, as well as a force of a hundred police officers working with hunters and vets.
They aim to tranquilize and capture the animal and only kill her if she poses a danger to people, Gruber said, adding that the search was now concentrated in the municipality’s northeastern part.
One circus director, however, is skeptical that the wild animal is a lion, and believes it could be a misidentified Caucasian shepherd dog — a large breed that can weigh up to 70 kilograms.
“If it’s a lion I’ll eat a broom,” Michel Rogall told Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
But police remain confident they’re looking for a lioness.
“In the summer you often hear reports of crocodiles in swimming lakes and then it turns out all it was, was a big duck. In this case, it’s obviously totally real. We’re dealing with a lioness that’s roaming freely through Teltow, Stahnsdorf and Kleinmachnow,” said police spokesperson Keip.
Animal rights groups criticized successive governments for failing to ban the practice of keeping wild animals as pets.
“Over the past two decades there have been repeated cases of big (animals) escaping from homes and circuses,” said Peter Hoeffken of rights group PETA. “Despite countless warnings, politicians have failed to ban the keeping of exotic wildlife.”
— With files from Reuters
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