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Over 220 German police officers armed with guns and night-vision goggles are scouring the streets of Berlin as the hunt for an escaped lioness continues into nightfall.
Residents living in the southern districts of the city – Kleinmachnow, Teltow and Stahnsdorf – have been advised to stay in their homes all day and to keep all doors windows closed.
At around 8pm, police said they were entering a ‘hot phase’ in the search, with a reported sighting of the lioness in Kleinmachnow.
But an hour later, they admitted they had been unable to catch the feline, as residents began leaving their homes and some even drinking in the streets chatting about the bizarre fugitive.
Three women from nearby Potsdam were spotted in Kleinmachow carrying bottles of beer and two of them ventured a few steps into the forest, German newspaper Bild reports, amid fears the lioness is already becoming an attraction.
A woman carries a tranquilizer gun as members from the veterinary office search for the lioness
A police vehicle passes as the search continues after police warned the public that a suspected lioness was on the loose
Police vans search close to a residential area after reports that a lioness was on the loose, in Zehlendorf, Berlin
Police cars drive out of the forest where the predatory cat is supposed to be. So far it has not been confirmed that the wild animal is here. Nevertheless, dog owners and cyclists are not allowed to pass through
Animal experts and police officers stand in a wooded area in Berlin’s Zehlendorf district
Police, who believe the animal is an escaped pet, were alerted at around midnight by members of the public who recorded what appeared to be a wild boar and a lion chasing each other.
‘Even experienced officers had to conclude that it was probably a lioness,’ a police spokesperson told local broadcaster RBB.
Local authorities have been seen driving armoured vehicles – ‘panzerwagens’ – through residential areas as a helicopter with thermal imaging circles overhead.
Kleinmachnow mayor Michael Grubert said it certainly was not the time ‘to go jogging in the woods’.
A police spokesperson was forced to admit: ‘We don’t know where it came from.’
Since no zoos or circuses have reported a missing lioness, police believe she must be an escaped pet.
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.
Video on Twitter appeared to show a lioness wandering through foliage in Kleinmachnow
Panzers! German police use a Survivor ‘panzerwagen’, an armoured vehicle, amid a search for a rogue lioness in the south of Berlin, on July 20, 2023
Spezialeinsatzkommandos drive a 15-ton Survivor into the forest near Stahnsdorf, July 20
Hunters and vets are reportedly helping track down the animal in Germany
Police are preventing locals from entering the nearby forest, where they suspect the feline may have gone into hiding
Over 300 police officers have been involved in the manhunt today, with 200 set to continue the search overnight
Mayor Grubert urged residents to keep heeding police advice ‘not to leave the house if possible’, and to keep pets indoors.
The creature was believed not to have strayed far from the Kleinmachnow area where it was first seen, Grubert said.
Hunters and veterinarians were also taking part in the search, as were officers from the neighbouring Berlin police force.
At 5pm, Brandenburg police issued an update saying the search would continue through the night if necessary.
Despite numerous tips from citizens, none of the information had led to the animal’s whereabouts so far, it added.
‘The operational measures will continue until a risk to the population can be ruled out,’ police said.
Residents in the area were advised ‘to act with appropriate caution and to avoid the adjacent forests’.
It remains unclear where the feline could have come from.
No zoos or circuses have reported any missing big cats, officials said.
Michel Rogall, a circus director in the neighbouring suburb of Teltow who was woken up by police at 2:00 am, said that the animal might not be a lion at all.
‘If it’s a lion, I’ll eat my broom,’ he told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
The Kleinmachnow municipality decided to keep daycare centres open, but asked staff not to venture out with children.
Traders at a local market were asked not to set up their stalls.
Police began their search at midnight and were still searching for the animal this morning.
A Police helicopter takes part in the search for an a wild animal on the loose, reportedly a lioness in Stahnsdorf, south-west of Berlin on July 20, 2023
The lioness was spotted in the night walking through the undergrowth near Kleinmachnow.
Brandenburg Police wrote on Twitter at 2:15am: ‘Please avoid leaving the house due to an escaped wild animal in the Kleinmachnow, Teltow & Stahnsdorf (PM) area and also bring your pets into the house.
‘Our colleagues are on site and checking the situation.’
They sent an update at 6:23am: ‘The escaping wild animal has NOT been found yet! We still ask you not to leave the house. If you see the animal, please call the emergency number 110!’
Thorsten Thaddey was out for a morning jog in Kleinmachnow when he was stopped by police, who told him a wild animal might be roaming the nearby forest.
‘I have to be honest, I panicked a bit. Because it’s a different calibre compared to a normal dog or another pet that has run away,’ he told AFP. ‘So I’m going to run home now.’
Once the animal is found, it will likely be sedated with a tranquiliser and taken to an animal shelter, the mayor said.
Anyone crossing paths with the feline should ‘seek safety immediately and call the police,’ Brandenburg police said.
Police officers take part in the search for a wild animal on the loose, reportedly a lioness in Stahnsdorf, south-west of Berlin on July 20, 2023
A man holds a sniffer dog as Berlin police warned the public a suspected lioness was on the loose, in Kleinmachnow, near Berlin, Germany July 20, 2023
Animal rights groups criticised successive governments for failing to ban the practice of keeping wild animals as pets.
‘Over the past two decades there have been repeated cases of big escaping from homes and circuses,’ said Peter Hoeffken of rights group PETA. ‘Despite countless warnings, politicians have failed to ban the keeping of exotic wildlife.’
Global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS told MailOnline the situation highlights a more widespread issue of privately keeping big cats across the globe.
Vanessa Amoroso, Head of the Wild Animals in Trade unit at FOUR PAWS, said: ‘The appearance of a supposed lioness roaming the streets of Berlin raises concerns for both the public’s safety and the welfare of the animal.
‘It is very likely that the animal, who must be under great stress currently, is privately owned since there have been no reports from zoos or circuses about a missing animal.
‘This incident highlights the need for Germany to implement nationwide regulations governing the private keeping and trade of exotic animal species. Wild animals simply are not suited for private ownership, which is why political action is urgently needed.
Police patrol during a search for a escaped lion near the village of Kleinmachnow in the south of in Berlin, Germany, 20 July 2023
‘As the German Animal Welfare Act undergoes revision, there is a unique opportunity to establish a positive list that would regulate the trade and private keeping of exotic pets across the nation.’
They suggested that other EU member states also ‘lack an accurate overview of the captive-bred big cat population of Europe’, potentially posing a danger to the public.
Mr Grubert said there was no information on one being privately owned in the area, and added he didn’t know whether owning such an animal privately is even permitted.
It’s not the first time Germans have been told to be on the lookout for wild animals on the loose.
In May, residents in the central German city of Erfurt were jolted by the sight of a kangaroo hopping across a busy road after escaping from a private property.
In 2019, it took several days for a deadly cobra to be recaptured in the western town of Herne, where residents had been told to keep their windows closed and steer clear of tall grass.
In 2016, German zookeepers shot dead a lion after it escaped from its enclosure in the eastern city of Leipzig and a tranquiliser failed to stop it.
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