Predator Shocks Jogger
Scary 'Tiger' Sparks Police Callout in Germany

Police in Germany raced to the scene after a jogger rang the emergency line in Braunschweig in a panic, saying she had spotted a tiger on her early morning run. The officers had little trouble seizing the friendly looking predator.

A woman jogging in the German city of Braunschweig panicked when she spotted a tiger standing on a bridge early on Tuesday morning.

"She ran past it and alerted a passerby, telling him she had seen a tiger," a spokesman for the police told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "She asked him for his mobile phone and called the emergency line. She sounded really scared. It was 6:45 a.m. in the morning and not properly light yet. Police officers immediately responded and discovered the animal standing motionless on the bridge."

On closer inspection, the officers were struck by the friendly demeanour of the smallish beast measuring about 80 by 80 centimeters (31.5 inches). "They succeeded in taming the predator and took him back to the police station. It wasn't a difficult task because the tiger was a stuffed toy."

The owner has been invited to come forward and reclaim the tiger. This is the latest in a long list of cases in which toy animals triggered police calls in Germany that have ended in embarrassment for the callers.