Suspected lioness still loose in Berlin
Officers couldn’t believe their eyes on Thursday night when they were shown a video of what looked like a lioness chasing a wild boar through Berlin.
The video was taken by two men who were passing through the area and showed a wild boar being chased by what “appeared to be a big cat, a lion,” said Brandenburg police spokesman Daniel Kiep, per The Guardian.
“Even experienced officers had to conclude that it was probably a lioness,” a police spokesperson told German broadcaster RBB.
The video, which was recorded in Brandenburg, showed lots of trees and forest where the animal could hide and hunt, reported RBB. Law enforcement believes the video to be real but it hasn’t been able to be verified, much like it hasn’t been verified where the lion might have escaped from.
A circus director in the Teltow area said that he wasn’t aware of any lions being held in zoos or circuses nearby, and was skeptical that the animal was a lion, reported The Guardian. He said it could be more likely that it’s a misidentified Caucasian shepherd dog.
After watching the video for himself, wildlife expert Heribert Hofer disagreed.
“That looks like a lioness to me,” he told Tagesspiegel newspaper. “This is not a lynx or a dog.”
Police received two reports of the big animal throughout the night and took to the streets to begin looking for the animal with orders to tranquilize it, reported The Guardian. Hundreds of officers used helicopters, infrared cameras and drones throughout the night.
Residents in the suburbs around the capital were told to stay indoors, reported Reuters.
“We recommend that people shouldn’t leave the house to walk and especially not to go jogging in the forest,” said Michael Gruber, the mayor of the Berlin suburb Kleinmachnow, per Reuters.
Officers are still searching for the animal.
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