Indian
newspapers carry daily reports on speculation about whereabouts of tiger, with
millions following search online
- Agence
France-Presse
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Jai at the Umred
Karhandla wildlife sanctuary. The animal has not been
for three months,
sparking a huge search.
Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty
Images
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A search is under way in India for the
country’s most famous tiger, with millions of adoring fans worried about the
big cat known as Jai who went missing three months ago.
Named after Bollywood superstar Amitabh
Bachchan’s character in the hit 1975 film Sholay, the tiger shot to nationwide
fame three years ago after embarking on an epic hike through villages, rivers
and perilously dangerous highways in successful pursuit of a mate.
A firm favourite with tourists and
conservationists alike, the seven-year-old, 250kg big cat was last seen at the
Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary, where he usually lives, on 18 April.
Wildlife officials in the western state of
Maharashtra launched a search operation, hoping to find the beloved animal by
Friday – International Tiger Day – but admit they are clueless as to his fate.
“Whether he has moved to forest interiors or
is with a new mate, no information is available as of yet,” said MS Reddy, a
tiger expert helping the search.
Forestry rangers said they first became
worried about Jai’s fate after his electronic collar stopped transmitting his
location three months ago, while tourist sightings of the animal have dried up.
The state government has offered a reward of
50,000 rupees ($745) for information on Jai’s location, a small fortune for the
hundreds of local villagers engaged in the hunt.
Indian newspapers are carrying daily reports
on the latest speculation about where Jai may be or what fate might have
befallen him with some claiming reported, but unconfirmed, sightings.
In the eastern district of Nagpur this week,
home to the Umred Karhandla sanctuary, worried locals held a pooja, or
ceremony, praying that he would be found safe.
Some devotees threw religious offerings onto
a fire while others held up posters of the missing beast. A small boy was seen
stroking a tiger soft toy in local online news clips of the event.
Jai has been credited with both boosting
tourism and helping to repopulate India’s tiger population.
“He’s successfully fathered more than 20 cubs
and has boosted the local economy by attracting wildlife enthusiasts,” said
Rohit Karoo, a conservationist helping co-ordinate the hunt.
“Losing such a majestic tiger would be a
great loss for India.”
Karoo said no stone was being left unturned
in the bid to track Jai down in a search extending over several hundred
kilometres.
“Around ten non-governmental organisations,
locals from nearly four hundred villages and forest officials are patrolling
the forests in Maharashtra to locate Jai,” he told AFP on Thursday.
India is home to around 2,200 tigers,
representing 70% of the world’s endangered tiger population.
Some reports have speculated that Jai may
have been wounded in a fight with another tiger, poached by hunters involved in
the illegal trade of endangered wildlife or merely fallen sick.
However, Karoo was quick to quash such
rumours.
“I don’t think anything bad has befallen him
as he is a dominant male tiger with the capacity to travel large distances,” he
said.