BERLIN: 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 five kilometres from the German capital.

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       The two passersby 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, initially putting the southwestern suburbs on alert and then expanding the area of the search.

       Despite a massive operation involving dozens of police officers, drones, helicopters and thermal-imaging cameras, there was still no sign of the animal by Thursday afternoon.

       Mayor Grubert urged residents to keep heeding police advice “not to leave the house if possible”, and to keep pets indoors as well. It certainly wasn’t the time “to go jogging in the woods”, he added.

       Given the lack of confirmed new sightings, the creature is believed to have not strayed far from the Kleinmachnow area where it was first seen, Grubert said.

       Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2023