"Big cat" still on the loose in France

CBS/APNovember 15, 2014

 

A resident's photo posted to the Facebook page of the French town of Montevrain, near Disneyland Paris, show's what authorities said was a tiger on the loose, Nov. 13, 2014. YouTube

PARIS -- French authorities have entered a third day in their hunt for a "big cat" that sparked panic this week after being sighted in the Paris suburbs.

Montevrain town hall official Cedric Tartaud said Saturday that the "danger level" has dropped for residents but couldn't say what kind of cat it is.

He adds that "a baby tiger is the size of an adult lynx, a baby lynx is the size of an adult domestic cat. At this stage, we haven't a clue."

The search was downscaled Friday evening, and police have dropped using their tranquilizer guns, after paw prints in the mud were identified as being too small for a tiger - the original theory as to the feline's identity.

French gendarmes take part in the ongoing search for what was first described as a tiger on the loose, in the woods of Ferrieres-en-Brie, on the outskirts of Paris, Nov. 14, 2014

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On Friday, a helicopter buzzed over woods east of Paris and a dozen police vehicles lined a grassy area where the feline was spotted early Friday. "He was also seen by truck drivers on the road," Montevrain Mayor Christian Robache said.

Police officers guarded a school Friday morning as children arrived for class in Montevrain, the French town where the animal was first seen near a parking lot Thursday.

Tracks were spotted Friday morning near the A4 highway between the towns of Bussy-Saint-Georges and Ferrieres-en-Brie.

The regional administration asked drivers to take "the greatest precautions" on the highway, a major artery between Paris and eastern France.

Authorities warned nearby residents to stay in cars instead of walking on foot -- and especially to avoid walks in the woods. A Total gas station near the sighting was briefly closed.

Both sites where the animal or its tracks were seen are about 6 miles from Disneyland Paris, one of Europe's top tourist destinations. The operator of the theme park says it isn't taking any special precautions because the loose animal isn't deemed a threat. Disneyland Paris is surrounded by high walls to keep out intruders.

A wild cat animal park in the region, the Parc des Felins, said none of its cats is missing.
Some tweets suggested that the tracks belonged to a big dog, not a cat, but the head of the Paris regional Wolfcatcher Society, Robert Picaud, insisted the tracks could not have been falsified. "It is clear that here is a feline walking around," he said.

French tiger trainer Thierry Le Portier told BFM television that if the feline was raised by its mother it would be more distrustful and tougher to catch. Raised by humans, it would be less distrustful but no less dangerous. "It can remain in hiding for a long time," he said, adding that it's "no problem" if the cat goes without eating for up to four days.

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