Wegner defends police operation because of alleged lioness

From BZ/dpa

It is the task of politicians and the police to ensure the safety of the people in Berlin and Brandenburg. “The fact that it was a wild boar gives a sigh of relief. Imagine if it had been a lioness who might even have had children,” said the CDU politician on Monday on RTL/ntv “early start”.

Wegner said he didn’t assume it was a wild boar when watching the video, unlike the experts who rewatched it. “So it’s OK now that this safari has literally been called off.”

The Brandenburg municipality of Kleinmachnow and the Brandenburg police announced on Friday that it could not be assumed that a lioness or any other predatory animal was on the move in Berlin or Brandenburg. All searches yielded no clues.

The search for the possible predator near the southwestern city limits of Berlin began on Thursday night. It was triggered by a video on which a lioness was suspected. The video snippet made the rounds on social networks on Thursday. The investigating authorities assessed the video as genuine. According to a spokeswoman for the authorities, police officers said they had also seen a wild animal “secured”.

In addition to dozens of police officers, veterinarians and the Berlin city hunter were also involved in the search. However, renewed supposed sightings of the sought-after predator and information from the population turned out to be wrong.

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