---
title: "Police looking for escaped mountain lion in northern France"
description: "PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Police are looking for an escaped big feline in northern France and local authorities said they have given permission to shoot the animal on sight."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Mountains & Escaped Lions"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-18-police-looking-for-escaped-mountain-lion-in-northern-france/"
published: "2021-10-18T22:02:28"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 120
---

# Police looking for escaped mountain lion in northern France

> PARIS, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Police are looking for an escaped big feline in northern France and local authorities said they have given permission to shoot the animal on sight.

By Reuters · Published 19 October 2021, 00:02 SAST

## Content

French media reported that the animal is a North American mountain lion, but it is not certain what kind of feline it is or how it ended up loose in the countryside.

The prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais region said in a statement on Twitter that a big feline had been spotted several times between the municipalities of Frevent and Auxi-le-Chateau and that police and wildlife specialists had found tracks of a big cat. It has given permission to wildlife authorities to shoot the animal.

A petition https://www.change.org/p/le-pr%C3%A9fet-du-pas-de-calais-prefet62-justice-et-respect-pour-le-puma-auxilois on Change.org to save the animal's life has gathered more than 35,000 signatures. It said the animal is believed to be an American puma. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Sandra Maler)