The operation left tens of thousands of residents in Essex in panic after they and thousands more tourists were warned to stay indoors for their own safety.
The 25,000 pounds operation involving more than 30 officers, specialist marksmen, and two police helicopters equipped with heat-seeking cameras, was most likely caused by 12-year-old ginger tomcat, Tom, the Daily Mirror reported today.
While officers and zoo workers searched St Osyth, near Clacton, Essex, chief suspect Tom
