Spot the tiger: Picture: Hollingsworth, John and Karen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
POLICE scrambled a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment after reports of a tiger in a field at Edge End, Hampshire, yesterday afternoon.
A member of the public spotted the 'big cat' through a telephoto lens and a team of officers was sent to investigate. They, too, concluded that it was a tiger.
Reinforcements were sent and a zoo consulted on how to capture the creature.
Yet, thermal imaging revealed no body heat and the 'tiger' simply rolled over in the downdraft from the helicopter.
A police spokesman said: "Everyone who saw it thought it was a real tiger."
There aren't many tigers in Hampshire, so mistaking a cuddly toy for the real thing is, I suppose, understandable.
METRO STORY
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