A flurry of international headlines on Thursday reported that Berlin was in a state of mild panic because a lioness was supposedly on the loose.
But, the search was called off on Friday when police announced there was “no acute danger” to the public – and actually, there was probably no lioness, but another animal altogether.
Here’s what you need to know about this bizarre story.
Where did reports of a lioness begin?
Police were alerted to a potential lioness sighting in Kleinmachnow, a municipality just outside of Berlin, around midnight on Wednesday.
Two men claimed there was a big cat chasing a wild boar and gave smartphone footage to the authorities – and pretty soon, the police began to suspect there was a lioness on the loose after their own apparent sighting.
Here’s the clip which started the speculation:
What happened during the search?
A 36-hour mission with helicopters, drones, infrared cameras, vets and hunters began in earnest.
Police hunted through the flat, wooded area as more reports of unconfirmed sightings came in.
Authorities warned of an “escaped wild animal”, and encouraged people in and around areas near Kleinmachnow, such as Teltow and Stahnsdorf, not to leave their homes and to bring their pets indoors, while traders were discouraged from setting up stalls outside.
The warning was soon extended to southern areas of Berlin and an alert was sent to an official warning app that the animal was believed to be a female lion.
Police said they had no information on who might own the animal, as none of the local zoos, animal shelters nor any passing circuses reported a missing lioness.
Officers then began to beef up their presence in Kleinmachnow and started to issue warnings over loudspeaker – although AP news agency reported that life was continuing as normal in the town.
Childcare centres were open although many children were not permitted into outside areas.
What did the authorities find?
In short, nothing to do with a wild cat.
In fact, on Friday, the police only found a family of wild boars, animals which are common to the area, even after looking through woodland on both sides of the state boundary.
They found no proof that a lioness, or any other wild animal other than the boars, was present. There was no evidence an animal had been killed, either.
Kleinmachnow mayor Michael Grubert told reporters that subsequent analysis of the initial video footage suggested “this isn’t a lioness or a wild animal”, but “tends towards a wild boar”.
He pointed out that the rounded back and thick legs of the creature in the footage did not fit with the anatomy of a lioness.
What happens next?
Well, Grubert said: “We will return to the usual vigilant programme and we think there is no acute danger for Kleinmachnow or for the south of Berlin.”
Still, he defended the mission, claiming it was “appropriate” in the circumstances.
He said: “The danger of a wild animal in Kleinmachnow justifies the deployment.”