A police helicopter took to the skies over the Quebec community of Maniwaki Wednesday evening in search of an African lion.

It disappeared Tuesday night from the pen used by its owner, who treated the wild animal as a pet and even named him "Boomer."

Boomer's owner says the lion is domesticated, but police and residents worry that as each hour passes, Boomer's animal instincts will return.

"We don't know what this animal will do eventually when it gets hungry. That's the fear," said Jean-Guy Whiteduck, a former chief of the Kitigan Zibi reserve about two hours north of Ottawa.

Boomer "escaped his chained enclosure and is now running loose in the community," Kitigan Zibi police chief Gord McGregor told CTV Newsnet Wednesday.

Police say residents in the small, sparsely populated community have been notified about Boomer's escape, and they locked down a local school earlier.

"The only thing we haven't done is go door to door. The radio stations have been contacted. The media has been contacted. We're in a small town so word gets out pretty quickly. So everybody knows that we do have a lion roaming around the community," McGregor said.

Boomer, who weighs about 70-kilograms, was last seen on highway 105. The lion's owner -- identified by police as Stanley Dumas Whiteduck -- says Boomer is not dangerous. The owner is helping with the search.

"We've been told (the lion) is pretty docile, but he's been in the woods for the past evening. So, we're worried about natural instincts coming into play here and making life a little dangerous for us," McGregor said.

McGregor says the presence of a lion in the community came as a surprise to everyone -- and it was reportedly brought to the area only two days ago. Residents have said they saw the owner walking the lion on a chain before he escaped from his pen.

"At 8 a.m. (Wednesday) I was advised of a lion in the community and I thought to myself, 'What else could go wrong today?"' McGregor said. "I was stunned."

He said 20 officers have spread out near the community to look for Boomer. The search covers a 20-square kilometre wooded area.

With files from The Canadian Press