Kicker: Animal on the loose

NICK EICHER, HOST: City people might be excused for not knowing much about wild animals. But New Yorkers took that stereotype to the extreme about 10 days ago.

Panicked residents made numerous calls to 911— reporting a tiger roaming loose in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan.

They also posted warnings on social media to avoid the street where the beast was believed to be prowling about.

Naturally, New York’s Finest checked it out, and discovered the urban marauder was anything but a tiger. Still, so many calls were coming in that an NYPD spokesman began answering the phone, “It’s not a tiger, it’s a raccoon.”

It’s The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.