Firefighters and police hunting tiger on the loose near Paris

© Ville de Montevrain - Facebook

A photo of a tiger roaming free close to Paris was posted to the Facebook page of the nearby town of Ville de Montevrain.

Police and firefighters were desperately hunting for a tiger on the loose near Paris Thursday after a local resident spotted the fearsome animal in a car park and sounded the alert, authorities said.

Backed up by a helicopter overhead, firefighters armed with tranquilising guns combed the area in the Seine-et-Marne district near the French capital.

Authorities ordered residents to stay inside and children were kept at school, as several people came forward saying they had seen the tiger on the prowl.

"We have been running after it since this morning, police officers are trying to intercept it," a police source said.

Town hall official Cedric Tartaud-Gineste told AFP: "We are calling on inhabitants to be careful, not to leave their houses and to stay in their vehicles."

"Anyone who sees the tiger should call the police or the fire service," he added.

He said that a security perimetre covering an area about the size of four or five football pitches had been set up around a wooded area near the small town of Montevrain, some 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of Paris.

A woman spotted the animal in a supermarket car park in Montevrain on Thursday morning.

"My wife saw it this morning," Jean-Baptiste Berdeaux, who manages the Intermarche supermarket, told AFP.

"She didn't get out of the car and called me to say 'I think I saw a lynx'," he said, adding she took a photo of the animal and the couple then alerted nearby police officers.

An AFP reporter on the scene saw a dozen or so fire engines and police vehicles lined up near the supermarket.

Authorities said they were hoping to catch the animal alive.

"If it's possible, we'll try and put it to sleep. If it becomes dangerous or aggressive, the order will be given to kill it," police said.

It is as yet unclear where the tiger comes from.

The town of Montevrain is a stone's throw away from the Disneyland Paris but a source close to the investigation said there was no link to the theme park.

Authorities have also made enquiries at a big-cat wildlife park 30 kilometres away and a circus that recently passed through town but no missing tiger has yet been reported.