SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Police searched for an “escaped lion” for several hours in the town of Bazian in west of Sulaimani on Monday morning, after a civilian saw the lion in the area.
Forest police in Bazian sub-district backed by a helicopter of the Kurdistan Region’s ministry of interior began searching for a lion said to have escaped from a park or a person.
Kurdish biologist Hana Ahmed Raza told Esta Media Network that a person had seen the male lion around Bazian and that she had informed police about the incident.
“We are certain that the lion had escaped from someone’s park because that area is not a place where lions will live, or it belongs to an animal park or a person,” said Raza, who is also a member the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group.
The IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group aims to conserve the 38 wild living cat species and to raise awareness of their status and conservation needs, according to the group’s website.
“If the lion is not caught soon, he will get hungry and could attack livestock and even children in the area,” she warned.
