A massive search operation is under way in India for the nation’s most famous tiger, with millions of adoring fans worried sick 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 favorite 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 April 18.
Wildlife officials in the western state of Maharashtra launched a massive search operation, hoping to find the beloved animal by yesterday — International Tiger Day — but said they were 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,” M.S. Reddy, a tiger expert helping the search, told reporters.
Forestry rangers said they first become worried about Jai’s fate after his electronic collar stopped transmitting his location three months ago, while tourist sightings of the cat have dried up.
The state government has offered a reward of 50,000 rupees (US$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 might 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 Wildlife 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 to coordinate 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 kilometers.
Some reports have speculated that Jai might have been wounded in a fight with another tiger, poached by hunters involved in the illegal trade of endangered wildlife or merely fallen sick.
Karoo was quick to quash such rumors.
“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.
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