GARY, Ind. (AP): Gary police searched the northwest Indiana city for a tiger after receiving several reports of a big cat on the loose.

 The reports began shortly before midnight Thursday and alleged sightings continued into Friday morning. Officers in the city's Glen Park neighborhood were told to be on the lookout for a wandering tiger.

 Officers didn't locate any such beast.

 Cpl. Gabrielle King tells The Times that authorities believe the vague phone calls were “bogus.”

 Indiana Department of Natural Resources spokesman Marty Benson says no one in Lake County has a state permit to own any big cat like a tiger.