For several days, a possible lioness held the German capital Berlin and its surroundings in her grip. Now there is evidence that most likely there was no predatory cat at all. After examining excrement, it appears that the beast, which was captured unclearly, mainly ate plants. That looks like a wild boar. Even a found hair does not indicate a lioness.
The lioness that led to a huge police deployment on the outskirts of Berlin last week probably never existed, Berlin media report. A lab found a high percentage of plants in the feces. That is actually not possible if it had been a predator, the authorities report.
A hair found is also not from the fur of a lioness, but resembles that of a wild boar. The structure of lion hair is very different. Previously, after analyzing the shadowy images, experts had already concluded that the silhouette does not fit a lioness, but rather a wild boar. The makers of the images had called the police and said that they had seen a lioness in the forest.
The same day, the director of the Lion Foundation expressed doubts to a reporter from this site. The tail looks very short. A lion’s is longer and has a point,” he said. “But the video is so unclear. It remains guesswork.”
Most expensive safari ever
The interior minister of the German state of Brandenburg, Michael Stübgen, previously stressed that the massive search operation for a lioness on the southwestern edge of Berlin and in three neighboring municipalities in Brandburg was justified. “The safety of the population is the highest priority. And with the first indications we could not rule out that we were dealing with a predator.”
After reports in the night from Wednesday to Thursday that a lioness had been seen in the municipality of Kleinmachnow in particular, an enormous search operation was launched that lasted 37 hours. Residents of the areas where the search was carried out were ordered to stay indoors. Helicopters, drones, hunters, three hundred police officers, volunteers, veterinarians and predator experts have all this time been used in vain to find a large feline predator. The operation ended unsuccessfully with the announcement that it must be a wild boar.
Media all over the world enjoyed this alleged lioness, but afterwards some German media concluded that the authorities made a complete fool of themselves and threw a fortune. The Bild newspaper described the operation as ‘the most expensive safari ever’ and estimated that it cost 100,000 euros. Stübgen strongly rejects the criticism.
© ANP / EPA
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
2023-07-24 19:17:36
#Berlin #lioness #turns #vegetarian #predatory #cat
:strip_exif()/i/2005832544.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 "Exploring the Potential of Apple’s AR Glasses in Business and Education Applications")