Mobile Municipal Park hoax: roaming tiger rumor debunked
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Rumors about a tiger roaming at Langan (Municipal) Park have been greatly exaggerated.
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Facebook posts that surfaced this week said people should be on the lookout for a tiger at Municipal Park.
“Tiger spotted at municipal park (Mobile Alabama),” one post read. “y’all be careful out there”
It also said: “Update: 10,000 dollar reward for who ever can catch it or have information on where this tiger is located…”
The post, which was shared 2,500 times, and has 508 comments, caused quite a stir.
In fact, News 5 heard a caller report the “incident” on a police scanner we have in the newsroom. (And we sent a crew to Municipal Park to check it out.)
Our crew spotted no tiger, so we contacted the Mobile Police Department to ask about the report.
“This was a photo circulating on Facebook over the last week,” a Mobile Police Department spokesperson said. “From all accounts, this appears to be fake. The same photo and post was also shared in other cities around the country.”
In fact, the post alleging a tiger’s presence at Municipal Park uses the same photos shared in numerous posts about tigers spotted in Oklahoma, Michigan, Florida, Texas, and South Carolina.
The viral photos have also been shared on numerous news publications, on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Reddit.
So, where did this rumor begin?
The tiger pictures originally went viral in May 2019 when a tiger was allegedly spotted on the shores of the Rio Grande. The rumor was ultimately debunked.
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Still, the Gulf Coast shared this picture like wildfire on social media.
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