Search ends for tiger reportedly on the loose in Puyallup

PUYALLUP — A search for a Bengal tiger reportedly on the loose in east Pierce County, Wash., has stirred up nothing but a lot of traffic.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says the sighting in Puyallup on Thursday may have been a bobcat, or possibly a tiger kept as an illegal pet. But either way, the cat appears to be long gone and animal control and sheriff’s officers have moved on.

One witness reported seeing a 200-pound cat with black stripes. The 911 callers described what they saw Thursday as a tiger.

Some of those calls were traced to a prank. Troyer says someone perched an authentic looking stuffed animal on top of a van after the first tiger sighting was reported.

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