150-Pound Tiger On The Loose In Paris, Found Loitering Inside Parking Lot
There are weird news stories and there are stories like this. According to Yahoo! News, which is citing the AFP, French police officials are actively searching for a tiger that is apparently on the loose in the a suburban area near Paris. The report says that the tiger was first spotted by a woman who saw the large feline in a car parking lot and sounded an alarm.
According to the Guardian, the tiger was spotted by the woman, who is a resident of the town of Montévrain, at around 8:30 a.m. local time. At first glance, she believed it was just a large cat — more of a lynx — and took a photo of the unusual visitor. It was only upon a closer look at the image that she realized that the large cat happens to be the largest member of the cat family: the tiger! The photograph taken by the woman was shown to authorities, who apparently confirmed that the animal seen in the parking lot was indeed a tiger. The woman was later identified as the wife of the director of the Intermarché supermarket. The woman remained inside the safety of her car after seeing the tiger, and called officials to alert them about the rather unusual visitor.
#tigre en liberté en Seine-et-Marne : les enfants confinés dans les écoles http://t.co/L1mUaJCqXY pic.twitter.com/8rOey9WYFL
— MYTF1News (@MYTF1News) November 13, 2014
Following the news of a large cat on the loose, authorities decided to summon the services of the police and firefighters, who are, as we speak, on a huge tiger hunt across an area that has been sealed off from the public. Men from both the departments have been armed with stun guns in order to be prepared for any eventuality. According to a spokesperson for the Mayor of Paris, the police and firefighters are on the trail of the tiger who left its paw prints into a wooded region, close to a tennis court situated on the edge of the suburb.
It is unclear as to who the owner of the tiger is and as to how it ended up inside the parking area. Authorities in the meantime have figured out that the tiger spotted in Paris was just one and a half years old, therefore not a fully grown tiger. It still weighs over 150 pounds, the report clarified. There were doubts about the possibility of the animal having escaped from Disneyland Paris, which is situated not too far from the area where the animal was first found. Another theory was that the tiger actually belonged to a circus that left from Paris last Saturday. Both the firms have denied that they are one tiger short.
Meanwhile, officials have urged people to remain extremely cautious and as much as possible remain indoors. They have been urged to move around in cars. Children are being held back inside classrooms. The citizens have been told to listen to the radio for more updates regarding the tiger.
[Image Via Freestockphotos]
