The deserted Packard Plant in Detroit, where the now defunct automaker used to operate out of until the mid 1950s, had an unexpected guest roaming its crumbling halls — a real life, actual tiger.

How on earth did it get there?



As the Detroit Free Press reports, British photographer David Yarrow was using the abandoned ruins for a two day photoshoot, only he hadn’t told anyone he was bringing with him wild animals — which is strictly prohibited. Along with the tiger, Yarrow had a pair of wolves and a bobcat.

Photo: Andy Didorosi | Facebook

A Packard security guard noticed the large animal cages during the shoot and radioed in his concern. Soon after the photographer and his team of 15 were asked to leave, but the trainer was unable to secure the tiger which remained in a stairwell.

The police arrived just after midday having heard there was a tiger on the loose, only by that time, the animal had finally been safely secured by two unlikely heroes — Andy Didorosi, who runs The Detroit Bus Company, and friend Tony Barchock. Didorosi told the Detroit Free Press that he recieved a call and was asked if he had a leaf blower. He didn’t, but he did posses an electric bush trimmer, which he brought along and successfully coaxed the giant tiger down four flights of stairs and back into its cage. (The whole harrowing ordeal was captured via cell phone footage and posted to Facebook.)

“This is not something that we would allow to happen here,” said Kari Smith, director of development for the Packard Plant. “This is not something that we condone in any way.”

According to Mlive.com, the crew said they had a permit from the City of Detroit to have the animals on site. Still, Smith told reporters the group would not be receiving a refund.

For close to 50 years, the Packard’s halls have been deathly quiet — bar some city rats claiming residence and a few graffiti artists. Today, those walls once again echoed with an unmistakable roar — only it was the roar of a jungle cat, not the thrum of V8-powered Clipper.