Jai has gone missing from the Umred Karandla Wildlife Sanctuary. Pic/Amit Panaria
Another alleged sighting of central India's favourite Royal Bengal tiger, Jai, has raised the hopes of the forest department that is desperately trying to locate him for the past two weeks. Officials have said that two shepherds in the Bhandara area in Nagpur have seen a large tiger with a radio collar around its neck sitting on the road. The forest department, however, has not had any direct sighting of the big cat yet.
"There is indirect evidence and we are positive that in the coming days we might get direct evidence of Jai's presence. Two shepherd boys who were grazing their animals in the Bhandara region told our FD officials that on Tuesday they saw a huge tiger with a radio collar around its neck. We have also installed camera traps in the area to get photographic evidence of Jai's presence in the area," said Srinivas Reddy, field director and Chief Conservator of Forests at the Pench Tiger Reserve and Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary.
The location where the claims of spotting Jai have surfaced is a few kilometres from the location where an ex-sarpanch too had claimed to have spotted Jai a week ago.
With two weeks going with no direct sighting of Jai, various theories have been doing the rounds, including that he may have been killed by poachers or died a natural death.
"There are some wildlife photographers who are unnecessarily targeting us over Jai's disappearance. I would like to say that people should not believe in rumours and we are confident that Jai is completely safe and alive. It is only because of the monsoon and the thick foliage in the forest that we are unable to spot the animal," said a senior FD official.
Apart from the forest department, NGOs and a group of wildlife lovers have also been searching for Jai. Honorary Wildlife Warden of Nagpur Roheet Karoo and his team of volunteers have joined the search in the dense forests of Gadchiroli.
"Our team is making all possible efforts to locate Jai and we are now searching for him in Gadchiroli and North and South Umred. Jai is the star attraction of the Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary and we want to bring him back," Karoo said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)