LONDON – Police scrambled helicopters and ordered tranquilizers to hunt what they feared was an escaped wild animal in southern England — but found that the tiger was a toy.
Hampshire Police say they responded after several residents called in to say they'd seen a white tiger in a field near a golf course in Hedge End, near the English coastal city of Southampton.
A tongue-in-cheek recorded message posted to the force's media line said that after "a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah ... it became obvious that the tiger was a stuffed, life-sized toy."
A second message posted on Sunday emphasized police had a duty to take such sightings seriously. As for the renegade tiger, "it's being treated as lost property."
Hampshire Police say they responded after several residents called in to say they'd seen a white tiger in a field near a golf course in Hedge End, near the English coastal city of Southampton.
A tongue-in-cheek recorded message posted to the force's media line said that after "a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah ... it became obvious that the tiger was a stuffed, life-sized toy."
A second message posted on Sunday emphasized police had a duty to take such sightings seriously. As for the renegade tiger, "it's being treated as lost property."
