- By Damien McGuinness in Berlin and Catherine Armstrong in London
- BBC News
Watch: Does a video on social media show a fleeing lioness in Berlin?
A member of a notorious German crime family has offered to help him catch a suspected runaway lioness on the southern outskirts of Berlin.
Police have been searching for more than a day after being notified of a wild animal hunt, but have yet to find it.
Now, the son of the head of the Remmo family has said he can “bring the lioness back into her fold.”
Firas Rammo urged the authorities not to shoot the creature.
In a social media post, he asked anyone with information about the animal’s whereabouts to “tell him first” so he could intervene “before some idiot shoots her.”
It remains unclear if the sought animal was a lioness as no footprints or DNA material, such as animal droppings, were found in the areas where the animal was supposedly spotted.
They said two officers saw the animal about 20 meters (65 feet) away on Thursday night and identified it as a “big cat”.
Others are not so sure. An expert told local Berlin radio station RBB that from the footage he saw, the animal looked more like a pig, which is common in the area.
Local zoos, animal sanctuaries and circuses said no lions had escaped from their facilities.
image source, Getty Images
People who encounter a lioness are urged not to run away but to avoid eye contact
The hunt for the animal intensified on Friday, after being scaled back overnight on the recommendation of experts.
About 120 police officers and wildlife experts, such as veterinarians, are now cleaning up local forest areas. Drones, helicopters and heat cameras are also being used.
The first objective of the mission to locate the animal is to capture it, but “police officers will only take further action if their lives or the lives of others are in danger,” said Michael Gruber, Mayor of Kleinmachnau.
Almost a dozen possible sightings of the animal were reported to police overnight, including in the affluent district of Zehlendorf, which lies within Berlin’s city limits.
However, the officers were not amused when the youths began making the sounds of a lion roaring loudly over a loudspeaker near the area where the search was taking place.
“This does not help the local community, nor the police in their search for the animal,” police spokeswoman Kirsten Schroeder told RBB.
Paul Landau, who lives in the area that was initially searched, told Reuters he believed there was a dangerous person in the area.
“At first it was not clear that it was a lioness or a wild animal, but they just said keep the doors and windows closed and don’t let anyone into the house,” he said.
“So, we thought it was about a person, not an animal.”
Residents have also been asked to keep their pets with them and to avoid forested areas.
Wildlife expert Herbert Hofer of the Leibniz Institute for Animal and Wildlife Research in Berlin told Reuters that anyone who encounters a wild animal should stop rather than run.
“You should also avoid, if possible, turning your back on the animal. You should also avoid looking directly into the animal’s eyes.”
The authorities were concentrating their search on a large area next to a forest where people walk their dogs, as they thought the lioness might have been sleeping there.
And the German newspaper Bild said, on Thursday evening, that the police told a local resident that they had “just seen” the lioness and that the search for the animal had entered a “hot phase,” adding that the officers shouted at the running “to get out of the forest quickly.”
According to Hofer, while it is illegal to keep large cats privately in Berlin, it is possible in neighboring Brandenburg – the state that encircles the German capital.
However, the owner must have a certificate and meet other stringent requirements, he told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Inconsistent laws across Europe have made trading big cats much easier, said Vanessa Amoroso, head of the wild animal division of the Four Paws trade unit, since they are allowed as pets in many countries.
She called on the German government to regulate the trade and conservation of exotic animals.
“Germany’s position as one of the world’s largest markets for wild animals as pets requires effective measures to counter the ease with which potential buyers can purchase animals through online platforms and exchanges,” it added.
Los Lelanchon, of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said the trend of keeping exotic pets is fueled by social media, where big cats are seen as a status symbol.
“This reckless trend must stop to prevent animal suffering and risk to human lives,” he said.
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