French police armed with tranquiliser guns have resumed the search for a tiger on the loose near Paris. A dozen or so soldiers from a nearby army base also prepared to join the hunt on Friday (Nov 14).
A tiger walks on the loose in Montevrain, east of Paris, as seen in this photo taken by a passerby on Nov 13, 2014. (Photo: AFP/Julie Berdeuax)
MONTEVRAIN: Police and soldiers armed with tranquiliser guns patrolled a town on the outskirts of Paris on Friday (Nov 14), as the search for a tiger on the loose gripped France and forced panicked residents to barricade themselves in at home.
A dozen or so troops from a nearby army base joined the hunt for the fearsome beast which has nimbly eluded all attempts at capture since being spotted prowling around a supermarket car park on Thursday morning.
Police guarded the entrance to local schools on Friday morning in case the tiger put in an unwelcome appearance and a helicopter with thermal imaging buzzed overhead the small town of Montevrain, some 40 kilometres east of Paris, right next to the popular Disneyland Paris theme park.
The story has gripped France with wall-to-wall coverage on rolling news channels and local Paris paper Le Parisien splashing the animal on its front page with the headline: "The unbelievable tiger alert."
And with tiger hysteria taking hold, a "tiger footprint" was spotted at the unlikely location of a service station near the A4 motorway. A police source said a specialist had confirmed the print and that, if it were confirmed to be the tiger, the animal "would have had to cross the motorway". France's traffic centre also said a "stray animal" had been spotted and urged motorists to exercise caution on the motorway.
'SCREAM, DON'T RUN'
Tiger expert Frederic Edelstein, from the Pinder circus, told BFMTV the best response to coming face-to-face with the stripy beast, thought to weigh around 70 kilogrammes, was to "scream, don't run". "Whatever you do, don't run away. Predators like that wait for their prey to run," he said.
Meanwhile, authorities were still scratching their heads as to where the feline could have come from. Disneyland Paris insists tigers are not among the park's attractions. Authorities have also made enquiries at a big-cat wildlife park 30 kilometres away. Suspicion initially fell on a circus that had set up its big top in the supermarket car park a few days ago, but town mayor Christian Robache said it "did not have a tiger".
Edelstein said the most likely explanation was that an ambitious pet owner had illegally taken on the tiger as a cub and it had made a bid for freedom.
'NO DOUBT, IT'S A TIGER'
A local woman sounded the alarm early on Thursday morning after spotting the animal in the supermarket car park. Several more people later came forward saying they had seen the tiger on the prowl.
More than 100 police officers and firefighters armed with tranquilising guns spent the day combing the area in the Seine-et-Marne district near the French capital, without success. Authorities ordered residents to stay indoors and use cars to pick their children up from school.
Experts were sure the animal on the loose was a tiger. "There is no doubt, it's a tiger," said Robert Picaud, the head of a local group responsible for regulating pests, and who took part in the search. "The footprints are real and they were not made by a man. These prints and photos leave no room for doubt."
Police were also using thermal cameras in a bid to find the big cat, estimated to weigh around 70 kilogrammes, according to Robache. A dog trained in tracking bears and large game was also brought in to help with the search effort.
As darkness fell, officials suspended the search until daybreak. The helicopter with thermal imaging continued through the night but "the search proved fruitless", a police source told AFP. Authorities have said they hope to catch the tiger alive. "If it's possible, we'll try and put it to sleep. If it becomes dangerous or aggressive, the order will be given to kill it," police said.
A source close to the search operation said the hunt for any tiger would be made more difficult because if the big cat behaved in typical fashion, it would nap a lot, possibly spending hours unnoticed sleeping in a tree.
The PETA animal rights group called on authorities to "show restraint and compassion in dealing with this tiger on the loose". "This situation, however upsetting, is entirely preventable and should serve as a wake-up call to the public about the perils of keeping wild animals in captivity," the group told AFP in a statement.
Police guarded the entrance to local schools on Friday morning in case the tiger put in an unwelcome appearance and a helicopter with thermal imaging buzzed overhead the small town of Montevrain, some 40 kilometres east of Paris, right next to the popular Disneyland Paris theme park.
The story has gripped France with wall-to-wall coverage on rolling news channels and local Paris paper Le Parisien splashing the animal on its front page with the headline: "The unbelievable tiger alert."
And with tiger hysteria taking hold, a "tiger footprint" was spotted at the unlikely location of a service station near the A4 motorway. A police source said a specialist had confirmed the print and that, if it were confirmed to be the tiger, the animal "would have had to cross the motorway". France's traffic centre also said a "stray animal" had been spotted and urged motorists to exercise caution on the motorway.
'SCREAM, DON'T RUN'
Tiger expert Frederic Edelstein, from the Pinder circus, told BFMTV the best response to coming face-to-face with the stripy beast, thought to weigh around 70 kilogrammes, was to "scream, don't run". "Whatever you do, don't run away. Predators like that wait for their prey to run," he said.
Meanwhile, authorities were still scratching their heads as to where the feline could have come from. Disneyland Paris insists tigers are not among the park's attractions. Authorities have also made enquiries at a big-cat wildlife park 30 kilometres away. Suspicion initially fell on a circus that had set up its big top in the supermarket car park a few days ago, but town mayor Christian Robache said it "did not have a tiger".
Edelstein said the most likely explanation was that an ambitious pet owner had illegally taken on the tiger as a cub and it had made a bid for freedom.
'NO DOUBT, IT'S A TIGER'
A local woman sounded the alarm early on Thursday morning after spotting the animal in the supermarket car park. Several more people later came forward saying they had seen the tiger on the prowl.
More than 100 police officers and firefighters armed with tranquilising guns spent the day combing the area in the Seine-et-Marne district near the French capital, without success. Authorities ordered residents to stay indoors and use cars to pick their children up from school.
Experts were sure the animal on the loose was a tiger. "There is no doubt, it's a tiger," said Robert Picaud, the head of a local group responsible for regulating pests, and who took part in the search. "The footprints are real and they were not made by a man. These prints and photos leave no room for doubt."
Police were also using thermal cameras in a bid to find the big cat, estimated to weigh around 70 kilogrammes, according to Robache. A dog trained in tracking bears and large game was also brought in to help with the search effort.
As darkness fell, officials suspended the search until daybreak. The helicopter with thermal imaging continued through the night but "the search proved fruitless", a police source told AFP. Authorities have said they hope to catch the tiger alive. "If it's possible, we'll try and put it to sleep. If it becomes dangerous or aggressive, the order will be given to kill it," police said.
A source close to the search operation said the hunt for any tiger would be made more difficult because if the big cat behaved in typical fashion, it would nap a lot, possibly spending hours unnoticed sleeping in a tree.
The PETA animal rights group called on authorities to "show restraint and compassion in dealing with this tiger on the loose". "This situation, however upsetting, is entirely preventable and should serve as a wake-up call to the public about the perils of keeping wild animals in captivity," the group told AFP in a statement.
- AFP/al
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