Lioness Rescued After Startling Residents While Roaming Through Mexican Border City

Mexican authorities responded to reports of a stray lioness walking around a neighborhood in the city of Juarez Sunday night. Official reports indicate that firefighters and police agents handled the situation swiftly and the large feline was successfully 'rescued.'

The lioness startled locals of Colonia Ampliación Felipe Angeles as it wandered through the streets, reportedly leaping onto roofs and walls. Worried residents reported the unusual sight to authorities around 10:30 p.m., claiming the lion was an escaped pet. When law enforcement officials spotted the wild animal, she had already climbed onto a roof again.

Firefighters aided in the rescue and restrained the wandering pet with ropes. They also used a ladder to safely bring her down from the wall she had climbed. A video of the rescue shows the lioness growling and resisting her capture while the firefighters struggle to cage the animal.

Many videos of the incident are circulating online. In one of them, residents can be heard in the background expressing concern about the lioness potentially attacking a child or being electrocuted while walking near electricity poles.

The owner of the lioness has yet to be identified. According to the city mayor, the Federal Protection Agency (PROFEPA) will take custody of the animal while authorities investigate the incident. Wildlife advocates and citizens argue Mexico's wildlife regulations are easy to bypass, leading to people having wild pets in densely population areas such as Juarez.

This is the third time in less than two months that a wild animal encounter makes headlines in Mexico. In late September, according to the Border Report, a liger was rescued from an abandoned, bullet-ridden home in a Chihuahua border city. Earlier that month, an escaped zoo tiger in Reynosa sparked a week-long manhunt.