More than 100 police officers and firefighters are searching for a big cat after it was apparently spotted at a service station and paw prints were found.
The animal - initially believed to be a tiger - was first spotted on Thursday in the car park of the Intermarche supermarket at Montevrain in the Seine-et-Marne district east of the French capital.
Soldiers were preparing to join the search as it resumed for a second day following the fresh sighting at the Total petrol station along the A4 motorway at Ferrieres-en-Brie.
The paw prints were discovered at around 6.45am local time on Friday and are being examined by experts, Le Parisien reported.
If confirmed, it would mean the animal has gone past the town of Chanteloup-en-Brie and possibly crossed a main road since it was first sighted on Thursday.
But officials said on Friday the animal was unlikely to be a tiger.
A statement said: "After an investigation carried out by the National Hunting and Wildlife Office in conjunction with the Parc des Felins [nearby wildlife park], we can exclude the presence of an animal from the tiger species.
"The feline... is still being hunted."
Jean-Francois Ameur, from Montevrain, said he was not prepared to take any risks and had told his son to wait for a neighbour to pick him up from school by car.
He said: "It's been running for 48 hours and it hasn't eaten, so yes, I'm worried."
Cedric Tartaud-Gineste, a town hall official, told the AFP news agency: "We are calling on residents to be careful, not to leave their homes and to stay in their vehicles.
"Anyone who sees the tiger should call the police or the fire service."
A security cordon covering area the size of five football pitches had been set up around a wooded area near Montevrain.
Robert Picaud, head of a local group responsible for regulating pests which has been part of the search, said: "There is no doubt it's a tiger.
"The footprints are real and they were not made a man. These prints and photos leave no room for doubt."
The tiger is thought to weigh around 70kg (155lbs) and a photo appears to show the animal lying on a grassy mound.
Dogs trained to track bears and large game have also been brought in to help the search.
Frederic Edelstein, a tiger expert, told BFMTV anyone confronted by the animal should "scream, don't run".
He said: "Whatever you do, don't run away. Predators like that wait for their prey to run."
Montevrain is just miles from Disneyland Paris, but the animal is not thought to be from the park.
Enquiries have been made at a big-cat wildlife park 18 miles (28km) from the sighting and at a circus that was set up in the supermarket car park a few days ago.
But neither has reported a tiger missing.
Sky.com
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