Lion On The Loose In Berlin, Residents Told To Stay Inside

Police in Berlin are warning residents to stay inside amid an ongoing search for an animal believed to be a lioness, BBC.com reports.

Authorities said they received calls and a video regarding a wild animal at around midnight on Wednesday (July 19), which led to a search involving at least 30 deployed police cars and veterinarians in the south-western outskirts of the city. A video shared on Twitter, which is suspected to be real, shows what appears to be a lioness in a heavily forested area in the German municipality of Kleinmachnow.

Kleinmachnow Mayor Michael Grubert confirmed that the search was ongoing, but authorities haven't yet verified reports of the animal sighting as of Thursday (July 20).

Berlin Police spokesperson Daniel Keip told the German public broadcaster RBB that authorities have previously dealt with wild animal reports, but nothing like the lioness incident.

"In the summer you often hear reports of crocodiles in swimming lakes and then it turns out all it was, was a big duck. In this case it's obviously totally real. We're dealing with a lioness that's roaming freely through Teltow, Stahnsdorf and Kleinmachnow," Keip said via BBC.com.

The animal's prior whereabouts have also not yet been determined as local zoos, sanctuaries and circuses confirmed that all lions were accounted for amid the report, while Michel Rogall, a circus director in Teltow, expressed doubts.

"If it's a lion, I'll eat my hat," Rogall told Der Tagesspiegel via BBC.com.