Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

This photograph shows what appears to be a big cat seen roaming in a large city in Germany and cops are now trying to find it using a helicopter.

The sighting took place in Waltersdorf in the Dahme-Spreewald in Brandenburg, the north-eastern German state that surrounds the capital Berlin.

Police say the big cat was spotted by a local and photographed.

On Twitter, the police said: “What we are looking for is this. We are currently checking which animal it could be. Our police helicopter is also being used.”

People are reportedly being asked to stay indoors while the police look for the animal.

The species of the big cat has so far not been identified but it appears that it could be a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) or a leopard (Panthera pardus), both of which are listed as threatened on the IUCN’s Red List.

A veterinarian was quoted by a police spokesman as saying that it could also be a type of Bengal cat or a Serval cat (Leptailurus serval), which are not considered dangerous.

A witness told local media that it might have escaped from a nearby circus, but the circus reportedly denied that it was missing any animals.

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