World of the Bizarre

Tiger sculpture prompts armed police response

By T.K. Randall
May 3, 2020

Image: Siberian Tiger in the Berlin Tierpark
Credit: A.Savin, Wikipedia / Free Art License The bizarre incident, which occurred near the village of Underriver, saw armed officers and a police helicopter conduct a search of local woodland "following a report from a member of the public that a large wild cat had been seen in the area."

As it turned out however, the 'tiger' was in fact a wire and resin sculpture that had been in the woods for the better part of 20 years. It had been created by artist Juliet Simpson back in the 1990s.

"Out of the field opposite came a whole crowd of armed police, who by then knew that it was all a false alarm and I said 'would they like to be introduced to my real live tiger ?'" she told BBC Radio Kent.

"It looks quite real, it's meant to look real and it is about 30 meters from the footpath so you can't see it very closely.""I took them down to the sculpture where they all had a good laugh and took a lot of photographs."

It remains unclear whether or not the person who reported it genuinely mistook it for the real thing.

"Officers, including armed officers, attended as a precaution and, following a search of the area, have established there was no animal and no risk to the public," the police stated.

My Granny is a sculptress. Today 10 armed police and a helicopter were called to her house after walkers reported a tiger in the woods. This is the tiger. pic.twitter.com/Kn21npZPiS

— Martha (@marthasimpson__) May 2, 2020

Source: BBC News

Tags: Tiger