What started as a wild report of a baby tiger on the loose in California ended with a far less exotic discovery.
On Thursday afternoon, a driver traveling along Highway 166 — a remote stretch connecting the Central Coast to the southern San Joaquin Valley — called authorities to report what looked like a tiger cub on the side of the road in San Luis Obispo County.
The California Highway Patrol responded quickly to the unusual call, concerned about the possibility of an escaped exotic animal. But when officers arrived, they found not a tiger — but a dead hawk.
CHP noted the incident in their traffic log and alerted Caltrans, which handles animal removal from state highways. No tiger, no feline of any kind — just feathers.
Why the driver mistook a bird of prey for a baby big cat remains unclear, but the odd mix-up drew attention to California’s strict laws regarding exotic animals.
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, owning animals like tigers is illegal for individuals due to the dangers they pose to both humans and native wildlife. Only accredited zoos, sanctuaries, and research institutions are allowed to possess such creatures with special permits.
At the federal level, the Big Cat Public Safety Act, passed in 2022, made it illegal for private individuals to possess or transport big cats without a license. That same year, two people were charged after buying a jaguar cub and bringing it from Texas to California for commercial purposes.
So while there was no tiger stalking the Central Valley this time, the call served as a reminder: in California, not all roadside sightings are what they seem.
