Berlin (EFE).- The Berlin police announced this Friday the reinforcement of the search in several districts in the southwest of the capital for a “large wild animal in the wild”, according to the civil protection services, which was initially identified as a “big cat” and which local media refer to as a lioness even without conclusive evidence.
A police spokeswoman, Beate Ostertag, told the local press that the search will continue “until the animal is found”, after last night it was maintained with the use of drones and that the security services indicated that there is no confirmation of what type of animal can be treated.
“This cannot last for days,” said the mayor of the Kleinmachnow district, one of those affected by the search action.
A video was distributed on social networks that at the moment is the only published evidence and in which a large animal appears to be seen in a wooded area.
The video is a recording made with a mobile phone by a witness and, according to the police, two agents of this security body also saw the animal.
Alert to the population
The search with helicopters and police began Thursday after that video and testimonies from residents were released, although there is no information that lions are missing from zoos and other animal enclosures around Berlin.
Local media indicate that a small all-terrain armored vehicle from the special intervention commandos (SEK) was also used in the search.
The Brandenburg police were the ones who initially asked the population of the affected areas not to leave their homes.
For their part, the Berlin firefighters requested that domestic animals not be allowed outside while the alert lasts.
The federal civil protection service also issued the notice, which was initially limited to districts in the southwest of Berlin such as Zehlendorf, Steglitz, Tempelhof, Kleinmachnow, Marienfelde, Buckow and Rudow.
Those responsible for neighboring Potsdam have also alerted the population because of the proximity to the search area.