German police called out after sightings of a huge bear found the beast was a giant stuffed teddy.
Locals in the Black Forest region in south-west Germany rang police after they saw a brown bear in woods near the town of Titisee-Neustadt.
Police, fearing another case like Bruno the bear that last year rampaged around the Alpine border region between Bavaria and Austria killing livestock, sent out a special squad to capture it.
Dieter Klipfel, spokesman for the Titisee-Neustadt police department, said: "As they got closer to it, they realised it was a giant stuffed animal. It had been put there by a local archery club to use as a target."
Run for your lives Teddy has escaped 