lion suspicion
Laboratory investigation shows: Herbivores have made Kleinmachnow excited
Michael Grubert, Mayor of Kleinmachnow, explains at a press conference why the wanted predator is not a lioness.
© Paul Zinken / DPA
The result is not yet final, but a laboratory test confirms that there was no lioness in Kleinmachnow. The feces found came from a herbivore. And the hair examination also points in one direction.
After a laboratory analysis, there is now more clarity: In the woods at Kleinmachnow south of Berlin there was no lioness on the move. An initial evaluation of a faecal sample showed that the animal being looked for was a herbivore, said a spokeswoman for the Potsdam-Mittelmark district on Monday. “We don’t have to assume a lion.” The “Tagesspiegel” had previously reported on the evaluation of the sample.
The result of a hair sample is expected on Monday afternoon, said the district spokeswoman. Since the hair found is missing the hair root, it is compared to a lion’s hair at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Leipzig. Even before the final result, the mayor said in a press release that “the individual hair found had no properties that are known from cat hair.” However, at this point in time it cannot be said with absolute certainty that it is wild boar hair.
Search for lioness in Kleinmachnow
The search for an alleged predator has made headlines beyond Germany since last Thursday. The authorities no longer saw any acute danger on Friday and, based on the assessment of experts, no longer assumed that there was a lioness in the region. Search operations – also with helicopters and drones – had brought no evidence of a free-roaming big cat.
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The police and the community of Kleinmachnow started on Thursday due to a cell phone video by a witness. After an initial assessment, the police assumed that a lioness was probably running around freely in the forest. The population should limit outdoor activities.