A baby tiger was reported along California highway. Here’s what CHP actually found
Someone driving on Highway 166 along the San Luis Obispo County line in California Thursday afternoon thought they saw a baby tiger on the roadside.
So they reported the sighting to the California Highway Patrol.
It was unclear from the CHP traffic log whether the supposed exotic cat was alive or dead on the remote highway that connects the Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley.
But when the CHP sent officers to investigate the area, they did not find a tiger. They found a very different animal, one with feathers rather than striped fur.
As it turns out, the animal on the roadside was not a rare cat — it was a dead hawk, a CHP dispatcher told The Tribune.
The CHP left the hawk on the shoulder of the highway for Caltrans to manage.
This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 5:58 PM with the headline "A baby tiger was reported along California highway. Here’s what CHP actually found."
