On Thursday morning, the inhabitants of the southern suburbs of Berlin are warned that a large predator, probably a lioness, is on the loose. Several witnesses have approached the police with video of what they claim is a lion chasing and killing a wild boar around midnight on Thursday night. Police warned residents not to travel outside. Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP Residents are warned not to leave their homes and keep pets indoors. The lion hunt began on Thursday morning. At 11 o’clock there had still been no reports that the animal had been caught. A different end to the holiday Bård Berg and Gina Emilie Eickstedt are both musicians and are now on holiday in Berlin. They say that they had not heard the news about a lion on the loose until they were eating breakfast in the garden. The couple in the holiday apartment in Berlin. Photo: Privat It was only when Eickstedt read a message on his mobile phone that said a lion was loose in Berlin that they realized what was going on in the German city. – It said that a notification had been sent out on all phones that people were advised to stay indoors, says Berg. There were also announcements on public address systems. – People had to go in and bring their pets inside. They say that they first joked about being eaten by a lion, but discovered that the lion was last observed very close to where they were eating breakfast. Berg says they went back into the apartment when they realized where the lion was last observed. Photo: Gina Emilie Eickstedt Suddenly they noticed that there was no one out in the streets, as is usually the case. – There are usually children playing and people walking. It was completely quiet, so we did as we had been told and retreated. The couple will return home today, and say they will take a taxi rather than public transport to the airport unless something else happens to the situation. Helicopters involved in the search The police inform the news agency DPA that helicopters have been used to search for the animal in the suburb of Kleinmachnow and the surrounding area in the south-west of Berlin. The helicopter searches for the lion on the loose. Photo: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP The nurseries in the area are being kept open, but the children are being kept indoors until the situation is clarified. – We do not know where it came from, said a spokesman for the local police on Thursday morning. He added that neither zoos, circuses nor animal welfare facilities in the area have so far reported a missing lioness. No one has so far been reported injured. The predator should preferably be caught in a humane way, and hunters participate in the hunt with stun guns, reports Bild newspaper.
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