PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Animal control officers rushed to Pierce County after getting a call that a tiger was seen creeping around homes in the South Sound.
The tiger was reported to have been seen just off River Road outside of Puyallup on Thursday afternoon.
A witness told South Sound reporter Kevin McCarty he saw the tiger crawling through some bushes.
“It was just a tiger. It was running around, back there, pretty much,” Travis Johnson showed McCarty.
Johnson said he's pretty sure what he saw creeping behind a house was a tiger.
“I have no clue why you’d see a tiger walking around here. I mean a cougar, fox, whatever, a coyote, sure. But a tiger? It’s kind of freaky,” said Johnson.
When Johnson reported the sighting, Pierce County Animal Control officers showed up in force.
Although attempts to flush any animal out of the bush failed, officers continued their search and asked Chopper 7 to scan the area from above and try to spot the big cat.
So far, Animal Control officers have come up empty.
“From what the independent descriptions are, our Animal Control officers think it might be a Bengal tiger. Which could also be a bobcat or we have someone whose exotic pet got away,” said Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer.
One man who said he visits his girlfriend in this neighborhood said he's never heard of any tigers around the area.
“I’ve never heard anything about tigers around here. I date the girl that lives here, and she’s been here for three years and never heard anything about a tiger,” said Michael Richardson.
A law enforcement source from a nearby agency told McCarty Thursday’s reports are not the first about a tiger in the area.
A man described as homeless told police he saw a tiger in Fife.
KIRO
