'Tiger Sighting' Causes Major Alert in Hampshire, UK. - Polidicks

[quote=BBC] Police are trying to trace the owner of a life-sized tiger toy which sparked a major police alert in Hampshire over fears a real animal was on the loose. Officers were deployed and a helicopter was scrambled with specialist thermal imaging cameras over the field, near Hedge End, on Saturday afternoon.The scare stopped play at the Rose Bowl cricket ground for 20 minutes. Hampshire police said the toy was being treated as lost property but they were investigating whether it was a hoax.They said they did not know how it got there but was similar to one which would be won at a fair. "Tranquiliser darts" The alarm was raised by a member of the public who spotted what they thought was an escaped white tiger hiding in a field, through a camera's zoom lens.Officers said they had responded as if it was a real incident, close to junction seven of the M27.Animal specialists at nearby Marwell Zoo were enlisted by police to offer advice and were prepared to send a team with tranquiliser darts to overcome the tiger. John Pullen, curator of mammals, said: "We offered advice to the police and we immediately gathered a team of staff who have been trained to deal with situations such as this. "We were moments away from making the journey when we received a call from police to say it was a stuffed toy." Golfers at County Golf Club were also escorted from the course and Saturday's cricket game between Hamsphire Academy and South Wilts was suspended for about half an hour. Tony Middleton, Hampshire Cricket Academy director, added: "Rumours came round that there was a tiger on the golf course and we just carried on playing until a policeman came over and told us to clear the area. "I assumed there was [a tiger] with everything that was going on, but we felt quite safe here." Officers discovered it to be a stuffed toy after it rolled over in the down draft from the police helicopter. "It is being treated as lost property but we don't know how it came to be in the field and whether it may have been a hoax. "Police are keen to reiterate that they have a duty to protect the public and therefore take calls of this nature as serious as any other calls reporting potential dangers to members of the public," a spokeswoman.[/quote] [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-13491268]Source[/url] Wonderful. [img]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52885000/jpg/_52885111_012039760-1.jpg[/img] Pretty fucking mean looking toy tiger though.

Next up is the real thing, I swear it's a scheme. [b][i]The citizens who cried white tiger.[/i][/b]

Nvm, missed the part it said it was in a field...

I thought there were sightings of a black Puma in Wiltshire not that long ago... [editline]22nd May 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Kendra;29993608]How hard can it be to find a freaking tiger in a city?[/QUOTE]City? :raise:

[QUOTE=madmax678;29993646]I thought there were sightings of a black Puma in Wiltshire not that long ago... [editline]22nd May 2011[/editline] City? :raise:[/QUOTE] Yeah nevermind... bah.

I laughed my head off after this was mentioned on South Today last night. Also, [url=http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=rose+bowl+cricket+ground&aq=&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=21.771205,57.084961&ie=UTF8&hq=rose+bowl+cricket+ground&hnear=&t=h&ll=50.924111,-1.319025&spn=0.011294,0.027874&z=16]this is the rosebowl[/url] (note the fields and the golf club). Hedge End is nowhere near the center of Southampton. I drove past it today :v:

I'm from Hampshire yay. "Game delayed, tiger stops play"

My grandma has the EXACT SAME TOY! Except orange

Haha, they (or at least used to) sell those at a zoo in a town near where I live.

immediately thought of [img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_WUvmQcmsdWc/S2AKoiVv7CI/AAAAAAAAA9I/ezg24c5MsVo/s400/MontyPythonTigerInAfrica.jpg[/img]

Damn stuffed tigers! :argh:

Well at least we know the police is capable of responding to those kinds of situations in that area.

If it was America, they wouldn't have to fear because if they saw a tiger they could just shoot it with their guns

[QUOTE=Meller Yeller;29999811]If it was America, they wouldn't have to fear because if they saw a tiger they could just shoot it with their guns[/QUOTE] What's so bad about that?

Good thing it wasn't a Tiger II.

I didn't know white tigers were indigenous to the UK. Wouldn't the local zoos be aware of an escaped animal?

[QUOTE=ChristopherB;30000647]I didn't know white tigers were indigenous to the UK. Wouldn't the local zoos be aware of an escaped animal?[/QUOTE] Just as in America, I'm pretty sure people with licenses can have tigers in the UK. At least, they used to...

Tiger... toy...? That's rather silly.