Mystery big cat on the prowl near Disneyland Paris is ‘not a tiger’

WHILE the hunt goes on for a big cat seen prowling near Disneyland Paris authorities say it is unlikely to be a tiger as first thought.

This photo provided by the town council of Montebrain, east of Paris, Thursday, Nov.13, 2014 shows what is described as a tiger. French authorities say a young tiger is on the loose near Disneyland Paris, one of Europe's top tourist destinations, and have urged residents in three towns to stay indoors. (AP Photo/Ville de Montebrain)

FRENCH authorities searching for a mysterious big cat spotted prowling around a town on the outskirts of Paris have revealed it is unlikely to be a tiger as initially suspected.

After examining tracks, experts from the national hunting and wildlife office and a nearby big cat park said: “We can exclude the presence of an animal from the tiger species.”

They added though that “the feline is still being hunted”.

The appearance of the furtive animal had gripped France and authorities had initially scrambled police, soldiers and a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment to find the beast.

A dog trained in tracking bears and large game was even brought in to help with the search.

BIG CAT: Tiger spotted on the prowl in Paris suburb

Animal hunt ... Police gather in Villeneuve Saint-Denis to search for the cat. Picture: Thibault Camus/AP

But the threat level appeared to be downgraded on Friday, with the local director of public safety, Chantal Baccanini, saying there was “no danger for the general population”.

“It’s between a domestic cat and a bigger feline,” said Eric Hansen from the national hunting office ONCFS.

For this reason, the searches were “reduced” to just a “security team” looking for the animal in the urban area of Montevrain, some 40km east of Paris, next to the Disneyland Paris theme park.

Paw print ... After examining tracks experts said the feline was not a tiger. Picture: Thibault Camus/AP

The story had generated wall-to-wall coverage in France on rolling news channels. Local paper Le Parisien splashed a picture of the animal on its front page with the headline: “The unbelievable tiger alert.”

Despite deploying around 100 police, firefighters and soldiers immediately after the sightings, the search proved fruitless. Torrential rain hampered the scaled-down hunt later Friday.

A local woman sounded the alarm early on Thursday after spotting the animal in the supermarket car park.

Several more people later came forward saying they had seen a “tiger” on the prowl.