Armed officers earned their stripes after a nervous farmer pleaded for help protecting his cows from a wild tiger on Saturday night.

But the beast turned out to be a cuddly toy.

The farmer called Police Scotland to his land near Peterhead after spotting what he thought was a real tiger in his cow shed on Saturday night.

Officers checked with local wildlife parks and sent a number of units, including an armed response team, to the farm in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

After a tense 45 minute stand-off the officers realised they were staring down a huggable, soft toy.

Peterhead Inspector George Cordiner said it was a false call “made with good intent.”

"We received a call from an extremely concerned member of the public late on Saturday evening with regards to a wild animal being loose in the grounds of a farm in the Hatton area.

"Unusual as the call may have seemed, any call reporting a potential danger to the public has to be taken seriously and efforts were made to verify the sighting as soon as possible, including starting to make contact with the nearest wildlife park to make sure they did not have an escapee.

"Our ultimate aim is to protect the public and keep our officers safe when faced with uncertain situations. Until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered.

"The incident was stood down within 45 minutes once officers attended and established there was no threat to the public.”

It's true - our officers had a roaring shift on Saturday night.. "Our ultimate aim is to protect the public and keep our officers safe when faced with uncertain situations. Until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered." pic.twitter.com/Wj5OPpay85

— NorthEastPolice (@NorthEPolice) 6 February 2018

How the toy tiger ended up in the cow shed remains a mystery.