UK Police Roll Out Copters to Hunt ... Stuffed Tiger

Police were ready with helicopters, tranquilizers ... to hunt a stuffed tiger
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 23, 2011 1:41 PM CDT
UK Police Roll Out Copters to Hunt ... Stuffed Tiger
This undated image made available by the Hampshire, England, Constabulary Monday May 23, 2011 shows the toy tiger which sparked a major operation involving armed officers and a force helicopter. Police scrambled helicopters and ordered tranquilizers to hunt what they feared was an escaped wild animal...   (Hampshire Constabulary)

Police scrambled helicopters and ordered tranquilizers to hunt what they feared was an escaped wild animal in southern England—but what turned out to be a stuffed toy. Hampshire Police responded after several residents called in to say they'd seen a white tiger sitting in a field near Southampton. A tongue-in-cheek recorded statement 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 yesterday emphasized police had a duty to take such sightings seriously. As for the renegade tiger, "it's being treated as lost property." (More Britain stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X