Alien Big Lion?

[Steveash5]

Lion spotted in Belfast park!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/itn/20080831/t ... a1618.html

"Police are currently responding to the incident and would urge the public to avoid the area.

"Anyone who thinks they may have seen the animal should not attempt to approach it."

I'm sure they need the advice....

 

[_farry_]

According to Google-News, the BBC story on the subject was entitled "Police alert over 'lion on loose' ", but when I follow the link, I find that the story is now entitled " 'Loose lion' turns out to be dog". And it's one of those annoying information-free articles.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7591210.stm

 

[Steveash5]

Typical

 

[ComptrollerAlpha]

This reminds me of a story I read before about an incident where people were panicked by a prowling lion that turned out to be a paper bag. And was there not also a story where a large domestic cat was mistaken for a lion? I can't find sources for either of these though. Do they ring any bells with anyone?

Why should several people independently mistake something mundane for something as exotic and unlikely as a lion? Seems very strange.

 

[Steveash5]

Yep, happens all the time. And is the 'large cat', 'big dog' or 'paper bag' ever caught or hauled up before the nation, hardly ever.

When an investigation reaches a dead end a 'calming explanation' is always needed. Though they should have better ones by now.

 

[wembley8]

Why should several people independently mistake something mundane for something as exotic and unlikely as a lion?

In this case it may be that the dog looked like a lion - FT had pics a while back of a dog which ended up with a 'mane' (due to fur loss) and was regularly mistaken for a lion.

There was also a piece in FT a while back on why people routinely mistake things for big cats; apparently it's part of our evolutionary defence mechanism leftover from the days when we were apt to become big-cat-food if we didn't keep out fo the way of anything that might be dangerous.