The wild hunt of a loose lioness near the outskirts of Berlin triggered the deployment of helicopters, drones, and police officers. However, the intense search took an unexpected turn when authorities announced that it was most likely a case of mistaken identity.
Days later, two men captured a short, unclear video of what seemed like a lion chasing a wild boar. They quickly reported it to the police around midnight Thursday.
Soon, warnings were spread in social media and local news stations, insisting everyone to stay inside and cancel any outdoor activities. The police spent a whole day searching the woods, and prepared to shoot the lioness with a tranquilizer gun if they spotted her.
During the first night of day one, some citizens informed the authorities that they had heard loud roars coming from a forest. According to the New York Times, a German television network later found that the roars came from teenagers playing animal sounds, blasting from a speaker.
On Friday morning, another resident called the police claiming that they saw the lion. The police flew a drone over, and sent a team of thirty officers, all equipped with heat-imaging cameras. They didn’t find the lioness. Instead, they found an innocent family of wild boars.
“A wild boar doesn’t really look like a lion, and we have a lot of wild boars,” says Ms. Bastians, a resident of Kleinmachnow.
Dr. Hofer, who has been conducting research in the Serengeti since 1987, was contacted by a local officer on Friday morning. The officer sought his expertise in analyzing the blurry video of the supposed lioness.
After examining the footage, Dr. Hofer noted certain characteristics of the animal that were similar to a wildcat. However, there were additional factors that cast doubt on the identification, such as the length of the creature’s tail and a brief sighting of a young boar running across the frame. In the end, the so-called escaped lioness was said to be a wild boar.
Days later, two men captured a short, unclear video of what seemed like a lion chasing a wild boar. They quickly reported it to the police around midnight Thursday.
Soon, warnings were spread in social media and local news stations, insisting everyone to stay inside and cancel any outdoor activities. The police spent a whole day searching the woods, and prepared to shoot the lioness with a tranquilizer gun if they spotted her.
During the first night of day one, some citizens informed the authorities that they had heard loud roars coming from a forest. According to the New York Times, a German television network later found that the roars came from teenagers playing animal sounds, blasting from a speaker.
On Friday morning, another resident called the police claiming that they saw the lion. The police flew a drone over, and sent a team of thirty officers, all equipped with heat-imaging cameras. They didn’t find the lioness. Instead, they found an innocent family of wild boars.
“A wild boar doesn’t really look like a lion, and we have a lot of wild boars,” says Ms. Bastians, a resident of Kleinmachnow.
Dr. Hofer, who has been conducting research in the Serengeti since 1987, was contacted by a local officer on Friday morning. The officer sought his expertise in analyzing the blurry video of the supposed lioness.
After examining the footage, Dr. Hofer noted certain characteristics of the animal that were similar to a wildcat. However, there were additional factors that cast doubt on the identification, such as the length of the creature’s tail and a brief sighting of a young boar running across the frame. In the end, the so-called escaped lioness was said to be a wild boar.
