MEXICO CITY - A FAMILY in western Mexico was in shock on Thursday after finding a tiger, which had escaped from a circus, lying on their patio, police said.

The tiger terrified the town of Zitacuaro, in western Michoacan state, as it wandered the streets for an hour and a half before entering a house, a local police officer said.

The tiger 'went through the house and lay down on the patio', the officer said. 'The family was terrified and they hid.'

'But these tigers are peaceful, they don't attack', he added.

A total of three tigers escaped from their circus cages when the doors were left open on Wednesday.

A trainer recovered two of them quickly, using chickens as bait, while the local pound picked up the third tiger after its town excursion.

A bus hit a stray elephant that had escaped from a circus on a central Mexican highway in September, killing the driver and the animal. -- AFP