A nudist bather who chased a wild boar near a Berlin lake after it stole his laptop was applauded by onlookers after a successful pursuit.
The photographer who captured the drama said the unidentified nudist was happy for her to share the images, which show him in bare-bottomed pursuit of the boar and her two piglets while fellow bathers look on in amusement.
"Nature strikes back," wrote Adele Landauer, a personal coach, on Facebook. "I showed the man the photos, he laughed heartily and gave me permission to make them public."
The man was sunbathing naked at the Teufelssee in west Berlin, a popular and perfectly legal practice in the German capital as part of what is known as FKK, or Freikorperkultur (free body culture).
The wild boar, sightings of which have become increasingly common, had apparently spotted a pizza being eaten by other bathers. It seized a yellow bag containing the man’s laptop, probably believing it to contain food, and was chased by the man into the undergrowth.
“Because the bag contained his laptop, he gave it his all, even though he was in his birthday suit,” explained Landauer.
The boar’s flight was slowed by a cardboard box in its path. The man clapped his hands and hit the ground with the stick, prompting the boar to drop the laptop.
Another witness said: “When he returned from the forest, everyone applauded him.”
Derek Ehlert, Berlin's ombudsman for wild animals, told local media that such incidents had become increasingly common, and that foxes had also become regular visitors to Berlin's lakeside resorts.
“We urge people not to panic in such a case,” he said. “We have so far had no injuries - the animals are quite used to humans.”
- Guardian