Curious case of missing Jai: Spotted tiger, says former sarpanch; activists dismiss claim

With just a day remaining for the world to observe International Tiger Day, forest officials are still struggling to trace Jai, the seven-year-old tiger of the Maharashtra’s Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. Jai went missing 99 days back and officials are still clueless as to what led to the disappearance of this majestic beast who is named after the character portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan in the film Sholay. [caption id=“attachment_2787172” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Forest officials have denied any claims of the tiger falling prey to poachers, while The Indian Express quoted Maharashtra’s Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar saying that a former sarpanch has in fact spotted the tiger near Pauni. He further dismissed claims of poaching, reiterating the point that Maharashtra has completely eliminated poaching through “strict monitoring and punishment.” Munishwar Katekhaye, the former ‘sarpanch’ who had spotted the tiger told DNA that he saw Jai while returning from a marriage reception. The incident occurred on 12 July around midnight in a forest area at Adhyal Range in Bhandara district. He described Jai as a “well-built tiger” with a radio collar. Wildlife activists, however, dismissed Mungantiwar’s claims as the paw marks are yet to be verified. The forest officials are confident of Jai’s survival instincts as he known to feed on cattle. Their theories related to Jai’s disappearance vary from searching new corridors to avoid confrontations with his own cubs to finding a new mate. This is not the first time Jai had gone missing. In 2013, he travelled almost 100 kilometers to land up in Umred Karhandla from Nagzira Sanctuary in search of a mate. But with the tiger missing for the last 99 days and the radio collar also not working, Jai’s disappearing is becoming a cause of concern for the Maharashtra government. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who wants to bring Maharshtra tourism on the global map had chalked out elaborate plans for tiger tourism like project selfie with tiger.