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French Authorities Hunt Down Wildcat Near Disneyland French Authorities Hunt What May Be a Wildcat Near Disneyland
(about 5 hours later)
PARIS — A large wildcat on the loose on the outskirts of Paris is not a tiger but another species of feline, news agencies reported Friday, as dozens of security forces continued to hunt for the animal as it slowly slinks around the French capital. PARIS — Police officers were sent to guard schools, while hundreds of security officers scoured large areas near the French capital. Spooked drivers locked their car doors. Local residents cowered at home, fearful that a menacing tiger would devour them whole.
The animal, whose origins remain a mystery, was first spotted in Montévrain, a town east of the capital not far from Disneyland Paris. The sighting prompted the mobilization of dozens of police officers, as residents reported seeing paw prints in various places. Officials estimated that the animal weighed as much as 150 pounds, based on the size of its tracks. But a little more than 24 hours after the French police began their frantic search, they concluded that the errant feline was no tiger but, possibly, a large or perhaps overweight domestic cat.
Some residents have been staying inside to avoid the animal, and officers were sent to guard several schools as children arrived for classes. French news reports said the animal was proving elusive, though a driver reported spotting the cat crossing the A4, a major highway. It was also seen at a gas station and near the parking lot of a supermarket, news reports said. At a time of economic and political malaise, the French could use a diversion, and the renegade beast — first spotted in Montévrain, a town east of Paris not far from Disneyland Paris — captured the national imagination, while also creating more than a little fear.
The newspaper Le Monde reported that the search team tasked with catching the animal included military officers armed with tranquilizer guns and a helicopter equipped with a thermal detector. It may also have played into what commentators have said recently is a growing public anxiety, stemming from 14 illegal drone flights over French nuclear plants in recent weeks, raising concern about the security of the country’s main source of electricity. French authorities say they have no idea who was behind the mysterious flights.
Libération, another French newspaper, said the hunt for the errant feline was complicated by the animal’s penchant for taking naps, sleeping for up to 15 hours. Then came the reports of a large wildcat on the loose, slinking around the outskirts of the French capital and eluding a hunting squad that included officers armed with tranquilizer guns and a helicopter equipped with a thermal detector. As of Friday evening, they proved no match for the elusive cat, which officials estimated weighed as much as 100 pounds, based on the size of its tracks.
The national agency for hunting and wildlife was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying that the cat was not dangerous. “It is between a domestic cat and a larger feline,” said Eric Hansen, an official from the agency, who also excluded that it was a lynx.
Nevertheless, a fuzzy photograph of the creature was circulated by the French news media, and minute-by-minute sightings have been reported here as if the country was on alert for a serial killer or U.F.O.
Police said dozens of tiger spotters had phoned in with tips. One driver reported spotting the cat crossing the A4, a major highway, prompting authorities to tell drivers and residents in the area not to leave their cars, or, worse, venture into the woods. The feline was also seen stalking a gas station and prowling near the parking lot of a supermarket, news reports said.
Writing on Twitter, Olivier Rimmel, an entrepreneur, mused that the obsessive hunt seemed to reflect a current French obsession with nonsensical things. “Every two days, a new bogus issue keeps us busy,” he wrote. “This time it’s a little tiger that is going to eat lots of children.”
After it emerged that the tiger could, in fact, be an obese cat, Libération, the French newspaper, offered reassurance to its readers. “The tiger is not a tiger,” it wrote in a post on Twitter.. “You can resume normal activities.”