Hundreds of police officers have been involved in the search for the lioness in and around wooded Berlin suburbs since Thursday after passers-by alerted about the predatory cat and a video appeared on social media. The mayor of the Kleinmachnow commune near the German capital said the animal was probably a wild boar. The appeal to residents to stay at home has been cancelled. The media reported that “active searches have been discontinued.”
The search for a potential predator near Berlin’s southwestern border began on Thursday. They were initiated by a video in which a lioness was suspected. A snippet of the video has surfaced on social media. The investigative authorities assessed the video as genuine. The police were alerted by the citizens.
In the morning, in an official statement, the authorities of the municipality of Kleinmachnow near the German capital warned residents of a “dangerous wild animal” in the wild. People were urged to stay at home. The media reported that it was about a lioness. “A few seconds later, the witness’s mobile phone shows the animal creeping between bushes and trees,” police said.
As late as Thursday evening, according to local media, 220 Berlin police officers and about 100 from Brandenburg, as well as veterinarians and the Berlin city hunter, were involved in the search.
The search for a lioness in Kleinmachnow communePAP/EPA/STRINGER
The search for a lioness is probably a wild boar
At Friday’s press conference, the mayor of the Kleinmachnow commune, Michael Grubert, announced that there was no longer a threat. As he said, the analysis of the recording, as well as other photos taken by residents, showed that the animal was probably a wild boar.
Grubert showed photos that show that the animal did not have the long and curved neck characteristic of cats. What appeared to be a long tail may have been a shadow cast by vegetation, Reuters reported. “After another convincing tip, police and hunters visited a small area of ​​the forest this morning,” he said. “We only found a wild boar family,” he added.
The mayor of the municipality of Kleinmachnow showed photos that are supposed to prove that the animal you are looking for is not a lionReuters
The municipal authorities and the Brandenburg police no longer assume that a lioness or any other predator is on the loose in Berlin or Brandenburg.
All search efforts yielded no clues. Active searches have therefore been interrupted, writes the portal of the daily “Welt”.
“The most expensive safari in the German forests”
– This operation is undoubtedly the most expensive safari ever held in the German forests! – Heiko Teggatz, deputy head of the German police union (DPolG), told the “Bild” portal, emphasizing the high costs of operations involving helicopters, drones and several hundred emergency services workers.
The search for a lioness in Kleinmachnow communePAP/EPA/STRINGER
PAP, Reuters, tvnmeteo.pl
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/STRINGER