On the outskirts of the German capital Berlin, an animal presumably a lioness is at large.
Police urged residents to stay indoors and be extra careful with pets and livestock while a fullscale search operation involving hunters, vets and two helicopters was launched. Thermal imaging cameras are also used.
Police officers alerted people in the Kleinmachnow, Teltow and Stahnsdorf area via loudspeakers.
The warning was later extended to areas south of Berlin, and a message was sent to residents via a government app that the “wild, dangerous and permissive” animal was believed to be a lioness.
Police said they had no information on where the animal came from and if it had an owner.
The lioness is believed to be sleeping in a small patch of forest.
Despite an intensive search, the animal was still not found when this report was last updated.
Two men reported seeing a big cat chasing a wild boar, which is common in and around Berlin.
“Around midnight we received a message that none of us could have imagined. Two passersby saw one animal chasing another.”
“One was a wild boar, the other obviously a big cat, a lioness. Both men made video recordings with their smartphones and even experienced police officers had to confirm that it was probably a lioness,” police spokesman Daniel Kiep told RBB.
The wild animal could be a lioness. The warning area has now been extended to the south of Berlin. For more information, see: https://t.co/PDOiSYksqy ^tsm https://t.co/o9oCxERcE8
— Police Berlin (@policeberlin) July 20, 2023
A video posted to Twitter, which has not been verified, appears to show a lion in the bush. However, no zoo or circus has reported the loss of an animal.
“The wild animal on the run has NOT been found yet! We also ask you not to leave the house. If you see the animal, call 911!” the police tweeted.
In 2022, five lions briefly escaped their enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, prompting authorities to relocate overnight guests to safe zones and launch an investigation into the “serious” security breach.
The lions returned to the enclosure after a “Code 1” alert was issued to residents, the most serious on the zoo’s emergency alert list.
Four years earlier, in 2018, two lions, two tigers and a jaguar had escaped from their cages after storms battered western Germany.
According to German media, the cats were later recaptured after being found by a drone.