Highway tiger: Big cat in Qatar gives drivers a fright

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Talk about a hair-raising commute.

Drivers in the energy-rich Mideast nation of Qatar got a surprise Monday when an escaped tiger was seen prowling among cars on a major motorway.

Police said they were looking into footage circulating on social media showing the tiger making its way between vehicles in the capital, Doha. Other images showed a man in a traditional white robe holding the big cat on a chain, suggesting it had been recaptured.

Some wealthy Arabs in Qatar and other Gulf states keep big cats as status symbols despite prohibitions against the practice.

A lion escaped its Dubai owner's home in January and was captured wandering a residential neighborhood. In Kuwait, a man was sued in 2014 after his pet lion escaped and attacked a Filipina maid.