A couple in France were shocked to find out that the cat they bought from the internet turned out to be a tiger cub.

The incident happened in France.

It is reported that a couple in France, who are from Le Havre, filed a police report after buying a kitten only for it to turn out to be the cub of a tiger.

The couple paid ‘several thousand euros’ for a Savannah cat after spotting an advert online just to find out that they were given a baby tiger.

Savannah cats are a crossbreed between a wild serval cat and a domestic cat.

They are legally obtainable in France, where tigers are not.

Tigers in France are protected by the CITES treaty, which means they could not be transported without any paperwork.

The incident, which happened in 2018, allowed the couple to pay €6,000 (£5,484) for the ‘kitten’ upon arrival, but when the seller turned up, they were carrying a 3-month-old Indonesian Tiger.

This was not noticed by the buyers at that time.

Despite looking different, the couple told the police that they were unaware that they had been given a tiger.

After suspecting that something was wrong, they called the authorities, who then launched an investigation.

The tiger turned out to be a Sumatran Tiger, which belongs to the protected species under the law of France and is prohibited to be kept as a house pet.

The police do not know where the animal came from, but they said that the tiger appeared in a rap video that was filmed in Normandy.

An investigation has been launched.

The Regional Intervention Group of the National Police and the Departmental Security has now drawn to a close after two years.

The police said that a total of 9 people have been arrested.

People that bought the big cat were also arrested on charges that are related to trafficking a protected species.

According to reports, the tiger was rescued and has been handed over to the French Biodiversity Office.

It is currently in a good health condition.

The tiger has been given a new home, but the name of the home was not shared with the public, said reports.