Illustrative image. This is not the lioness seen in the North but a specimen from Botswana. Zinyange Auntony / AFP
According to the mayor of the town of Prouvy, it could be a “little lioness”.
For a few days, in the town of Prouvy, in the suburbs of Valenciennes, we have only been talking about him. With a robust build and well drawn, a beast walks along the railway tracks.
Read alsoWhy the lynx could disappear in France within thirty years
It was Antonio Sirna, a resident of the region, who surprised the agile silhouette of the animal during a walk. The next day, from his house which directly overlooks the SNCF line, he sees her again. Using his phone, he films the feline prowling a few meters from the houses.
“We can’t take this lightly”
“I saw the beast and what impressed me was its big, thick tail with a black tip, testifies the Valenciennes to France 2. The mayor of Prouvy takes the appearance of the feline seriously. “We can’t take this lightlyexplains Isabelle Choain, the PCF councilor. It could be a small lioness.
The tracking of the animal was entrusted to the police and the French Office for Biodiversity. Thursday afternoon, after new testimonies claiming to have seen the beast near the Trith-Saint-Léger pond, the police closed and prohibited access to the area for two hours. The firefighters, for their part, called on their canine team based in Cambrai as well as their veterinarian, the only person authorized to put the animal to sleep using hypodermic darts.
Questioned by BFM, the city councilor sees two possibilities: “If it’s a feline, someone must have got rid of it; and if it’s a big wild cat, it’s nature that makes such an animal walk around.»
In the meantime, research continues. Firefighter drones have also been made available to law enforcement. According to France 2, no hen or rooster has been attacked yet.
SEE ALSO – Var: a blue shark spotted near Hyères