It’s the summer holidays here and there’s a tradition in the media to give more attention to “weird” but not very important news. Supposedely, people don’t want to know about serious stuff while they are on holidays. So any story about an unusual animal garners headlines. Hence the “great cat hunt” of August 2006…

In truth, this mystery animal didn’t attack anybody, so the policemen were instructed to try and catch it alive. Nobody knew in the beginning what it was (the first reports being very vague) so a few shotguns were deemed necessary in case it really was a panther or bobcat. But as no zoo or circus had lost an animal in the area, that hypothesis became rapidly less likely.

The animal was photographed 3 days ago and it’s obvious it’s not a panther or lynx, but probably a large domestic cat… and a lot of imagination on the part of the tourists who started the story!

Here’s a link to a photograph (click on the words “Agrandir l’image” to enlarge) :

The picture was taken from about 400 meters (a third of a mile) and it’s difficult to know the scale because there’s only grass apart from the animal.

“Isn’t it like the europeans to scream and run, then hunt down (literally) anything that doesn’t fit into their world? ”

I’m with Shumway though… why would you hunt a big cat with a shotgun? You’d about be better off with a bow and arrow. Definitely doesn’t sound big enough to be a panther… unless it’s a young one. Could be a Lynx or a Bobcat or some feline in that range. Isn’t there an African feline that is about the size of a Lynx or Bobcat?