German authorities have warned the population of the southern suburbs of Berlin on Thursday to be alert to a potentially dangerous animal loose, which is suspected to be a lioness.
Brandenburg state police issued a warning in the early hours of Thursday about an "escaped wild animal" and asked people in Kleinmachnow, Teltow and Stahnsdorf, just inside the Berlin city limits, not to leave their homes and to bring their pets inside.
Later, the warning was extended to the southern areas of Berlin and an alert was sent out via an official warning app, in which the animal was suspected to be a lioness.
Veterinarians and hunters participated in the search for the animal. The police do not have information about its owner at the moment. Two men reported seeing a big cat chasing a wild boar, common around Berlin, police spokesman Daniel Kiep said.
"The two gentlemen recorded a video with their smartphone and even the police officers themselves had to confirm that it was probably a lioness," he said, adding that there had been several reported sightings. Neither of the two Berlin zoos nor any circus reported a missing lioness, he added.
