A huge police operation to find a lion on the loose near Berlin, involving thermal cameras, helicopters, veterinarians and heavily armed hunters, encountered a problem Friday: There is no lion.
Germany was gripped by the story of the big cat, which authorities said was prowling the suburbs of Kleinmachnow, southwest of Berlin on Thursday. Residents were told to keep children and pets indoors and not venture into wooded areas.
But the search was called off after experts said the animal being hunted by more than 100 police officers was likely a wild boar.
Kleinmachnow Mayor Michael Grubert told a press conference Friday afternoon that nothing was found by Berlin and Brandenburg police. Police spokesman Peter Foitzik confirmed at the press conference that the mission was ending.
“The body shape and posture of the animal depicted in the video were analyzed by two independent experts (one from South Africa). Both came to the conclusion that it was by no means a lion,” according to a press release from the Kleinmachnow community.
Rainer Altenkamp, a wildlife expert and chairman of the environmental organization NABU Berlin, said he was certain the supposed video of the lion showed a wild boar.
"Even the short, drooping tail with a loosely hairy tassel about ten centimeters long rules out a lioness," he said in a press release. "The other recognizable features, for example the round back and the elongated head, fit very well with a wild boar and speak against [it being] a predator."
The digging behavior seen in the video is typical of boars, he added, and unlike a big cat it showed no reaction to a bright light being shone on it.
Reports of a roar heard in the upmarket Zehlendorf, southwest of Berlin, late Thursday night turned out to be a hoax or, as German officials put it, “a bad joke.”
Questions are already being asked on how such large public resources were dedicated to the pursuit of a fictional animal.
Officials defended their actions.
Grubert said the "search measures were justified" and said the search would be conducted the same way again.
There are 23 registered lions know to be living in the local state of Brandenburg, a spokesperson for the state’s environmental agency told NBC News on Friday. They are distributed among three circus companies, two zoos and one private owner, according to the agency.
Officials also said again that animal stool probes were being analyzed and that results are expected in the next days.
Altenkamp suggested that should such a scare happen again, police should assemble a team of experts in identifying wild animals before warning the public.
"The more extraordinary the claim, the more reliable the evidence must be!" he said.
