Residents of Berlin's southern suburbs were warned by German police to remain indoors on Thursday after a lioness is reportedly on the loose. 

The warning was issued after two people saw what seemed to be a lioness chasing a wild boar down a street less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Berlin. 

Daniel Keip, Brandenburg police spokesman, told RBB radio: "Around midnight, we received a message hard to imagine. Two passersby who saw one animal chasing another," adding: "One was a wild boar and the other apparently a wild animal, a lioness. The two men recorded a video on their phones and even experienced policemen had to concede that it was probably a lioness".

Authorities, a veterinarian, and two hunters alongside several helicopters searched the area around the communities of Kleinmachnow, Teltow, and Stahnsdorf at the start of Thursday. Brandenburg police posted on Twitter around 7:30 am (0530 GMT): "The wild animal that escaped has not yet been found!... We ask you not to leave your houses."  

Pets were also warned to be kept indoors, as a conference is scheduled to be held at 1100 GMT as it remains unclear where the lioness came from. 

"No animal parks, zoos, or circuses are missing an animal of this kind," the police spokesman told RBB.

Circus director in Teltow, Michel Rogall, argued that the animal may not even be a lion. "If it's a lion, I'll eat my broom," he told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.   

A spokeswoman for the Kleinmachnow municipality told RBB that daycare centers were instructed to keep children inside. 

One man was out for a morning jog in when he was stopped by police, who told him a wild animal might be roaming the forest.  

"I have to be honest, I panicked a bit. Because it's a different caliber compared to a normal dog or another pet that has run away," said Thorsten Thaddey to AFP, who was stopped by police in Kleinmachnow during his morning jog. "So I'm going to run home now."

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Keip added that once the animal is located, it will be sedated with a tranquilizer and transported to an animal shelter. Florian Eiserlo of the "Vier Pfoten" (Four Paws) animal welfare organization advised that if anyone runs into the animal, it is important to "Stand still, stay calm, try to head to a safe area such as a car or a building," he told the Rheinische Post newspaper.  

Although this is rare, it is not the first time this occurs in Germany. Back in May, residents of Erfurt were surprised by the sight of a kangaroo on a busy road after escaping from a private property.  

Back in 2019, a deadly cobra was recaptured after escaping in the western town of Herne, and in 2016,  zookeepers shot dead a lion after it ran off from its enclosure in the city of Leipzig and a tranquilizer failed to stop it.