Police hunt ‘lioness’ on the loose around Berlin
- Residents were urged to stay indoors amid reports of a wild animal seen chasing a wild boar down a street near the German capital
- Despite a massive operation involving over 100 officers as well as drones, helicopters and thermal-imaging cameras, there was still no sign of the large feline
A wild animal, believed to be a lioness, was on the loose in Berlin’s southern outskirts on Thursday, with residents urged to stay indoors as hunters joined police in a major search operation.
Police first issued the alarm in the early hours after two people saw what appeared to be a lioness chasing a wild boar down a street less than 5km (three miles) from the German capital.
The two passers-by spotted the feline around midnight in the Kleinmachnow suburb, southwest of Berlin. They shared mobile phone footage of the animal with police, who believe the images are genuine, Kleinmachnow mayor Michael Grubert told a press conference.
The animal was later also spotted by police officers themselves, said Kerstin Schroeder, police spokeswoman in the Brandenburg region around Berlin. Brandenburg police issued a warning to the public about the beast’s presence, putting the southwestern suburbs on alert.
Despite a massive operation involving over 100 police officers as well as drones, helicopters and thermal-imaging cameras, there was still no sign of the animal by Thursday afternoon.