A young tiger was seen on the loose near Disneyland Paris Thursday, according to French civic officials who urged residents in three towns to stay indoors. The animal was spotted in brush behind some tennis courts. A helicopter and a wolf-catcher were helping police in the search, said authorities in the district of Seine-et-Marne, east of Paris.
As night fell Thursday the tiger was till on the loose.
The tiger was spotted at about 8.30 a.m. local time (2.30 a.m. ET) in brush behind some tennis courts and a soccer field near the town of Montevrain, roughly five miles from Disneyland Paris. It was seen again in the same area shortly after 2 p.m. (8 a.m. ET), according to news site, L’Express. Animal experts from a local wildlife park said footprints at the scene indicated the animal was an adolescent tiger weighing about 100 pounds, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.
In an alert on its Facebook page, Montevrain urged residents to “exercise caution” and said a cordon had been placed around the area. Authorities urged people living in Montevrain, Chessy and Chalifert to remain indoors.
EuroDisney, the operator of Disneyland Paris, told the Associated Press that it has no tigers in the theme park, so the errant cat could not have come from them. The Parc des Felins, a wildcat preserve 18 miles from Montevrain, said none of its cats are missing.
SOCIAL
- Alastair Jamieson
The Associated Press contributed to this report.