Is a lioness wandering through Berlin? That’s what the police and experts say In Iraq, the Swedish embassy is being stormed – “that’s completely unacceptable”

There is excitement in the German capital: on Thursday morning, the police warned of an escaped predator. A larger police operation is now underway in the south of Berlin – with helicopters, drones and armored vehicles. Suspected recordings of the wildcat are circulating on social media and the Brandenburg police are now speaking of “a lioness”, but wildlife experts are sceptical. Here’s what we know so far:

That’s what the police say

Brandenburg police received an emergency call around midnight. According to these, passers-by filmed a free-roaming wild animal with their mobile phones. “After studying the video material, the wild animal appears to be a lioness,” the police write in a first press release.

That is why more than 30 patrol cars and with the support of several police helicopters were already looking for the wild cat at night – so far without success. The funny thing about it: “None of the tested livestock establishments, such as animal parks, zoos, animal welfare establishments or circuses, are currently missing such an animal,” the police write.

At 1 p.m., the authorities then informed a press conference about the police operation: “The lioness has not yet been sighted,” said Michael Grubert, the mayor of the Kleinmachnow community, where the lioness was sighted. We are happy that the school holidays have already started.

The police themselves confirmed another sighting by officials during the night. So one actually assumes an escaped lioness. If necessary, the operation will continue overnight “until the animal is found,” a police spokeswoman said.

That’s what the experts say

Wildlife experts, on the other hand, are quite skeptical: “The shape of the back and tail look unusual. But if the police say it’s a big cat, then I can’t doubt it,” Cologne Zoo’s big cat expert Alexander Sliwa told ntv.

Instead, it could be a cougar or even a completely different animal, such as a deer species. “An escaped animal that is not in its natural environment would have reacted to the headlights,” says Sliwa. Ringmaster Michel Rogall is also surprised by the news. There is no circus left in Germany that keeps lions or tigers:

The police called him out of bed that night and asked if he missed a predator. The ringmaster even makes a bet: “If that’s a lion, I’ll eat a broom.” Another expert – Marcel Alaze, the senior curator of the Allwetterzoos in Münster – also expresses skepticism about the photo: “I wouldn’t decide if it’s a lion.”

The video

This video should show the alleged big cat:

Some Twitter users are now speculating whether it’s actually a lion or maybe just a wild boar:

Circus boss Rogall also has his own theory about what kind of animal it could be: a white bear dog. “I have such a dog at home. But it’s still there,” says Rogall. And this is what the dog looks like:

It does not matter whether it is a kind of deer, wild boar, white bear dog or lioness: the police action will probably continue until the identity of the animal is sufficiently clarified. (lion)