Lioness on the loose in Berlin

       Footage has shown the moment a lioness on the loose near the German capital of Berlin mauled a wild boar to death.

       Police have been searching for the dangerous animal throughout Thursday (July 20) with helicopters, drones and infrared cameras, as well as a vet and hunters.

       Local autorities were alerted to the animal in Kleinmachnow, just outside Berlin's city limits, around midnight after footage was published online of the lioness attacking a wild boar native to the area.

       Speaking to German radio station RBB, the police said there had been “various visual contacts” with the animal since the midnight spotting, leading to the assumption the “lioness is [still] roaming freely”.

       None of the zoos, animal shelters, circuses or other facilities in the area had reported a missing animal, causing confusion as to where the big cat was being kept before it escaped.

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       Dozens of police officers have been involved in the search for the lioness (Image: AP )

       Five experienced hunters with tranquilliser guns are said to be searching the area alongside veterinarians, while police are using thermal imagery to scour the area.

       A 15-ton special task force armoured vehicle known as “Survivor” is also assisting in the hunt.

       People in Kleinmachnow, a town of about 20,000 in a flat, wooded area on the boundary between Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg, have been advised to stay indoors if possible.

       Local authorities left child daycare centres open, though they were asked not to let children outside, and scaled back the town's weekly market.

       The warning was extended to neighbouring southern areas of Berlin earlier today and an alert was sent on an official warning app that the animal was suspected to be a lioness.

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       The lioness is believed to be 'roaming freely' near Berlin (Image: EXPRESS)

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       On Thursday afternoon, police in the capital tweeted that there had been a “possible sighting” of the animal just inside the city limits.

       “The primary aim, if at all possible, is to capture the animal, if necessary with an anaesthetic,” Kleinmachnow Mayor Michael Grubert said.

       “Other measures will only be taken on a case-by-case basis by police officers on the ground if their own lives or those of others are endangered.”

       Mr Grubert said there was no information on one being privately owned in the area, and added that he didn’t know whether owning such an animal privately is even permitted.

       A local resident and her daughter watch while police officers stand in a wooded area (Image: AP )

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       Veterinarian Dr. Fred Willizkat told German outlet Bild that lions on the loose are not necessarily hungry but they're unpredictable.

       “That's what makes it dangerous,” he said. “A lion can attack anything that he doesn't know and that scares him.”

       A local resident, Mariam B said: “The lioness must have been right on our doorstep because the police searched there very intensively!”

       “Dogs were barking all over the neighbourhood. We were told over the loudspeaker that we were not allowed to leave the house,” she told Bild.

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