Controversy breaks out over Jai ‘sighting’

NAGPUR: The sudden announcement of Jai, the missing iconic tiger of

Vidarbha

, by

Pench Tiger Reserve Field

Director and Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) MS Reddy over the social media has created a furore.

“Mr. Muniswar, who is an ex sarpanch of Chinchala village, spotted Jai on July 12 at midnight when he was returning from Bhandara to his village in a four-wheeler with his family. He identifies it on the basis of its size and a radio collar around its neck. The sighting, from 5-6 feet distance, lasted for two minutes,” Reddy told TOI.

TOI had reported this incident on Wednesday. However, search teams had dismissed it as a fake sighting.

On Wednesday, Reddy got a signed statement by Muniswar as well as a video recording of it confirming the sighting as that of Jai who is missing since April 18.

Muniswar also mentioned sighting 16-17 spotted deer and two wild boars at the highway near

Khapa

forest patch on July 20 at 1.15am and said that the “animals seemed nervous, indicating tiger presence in the area”.

Volunteers involved in its search operations who have announced a cash award of Rs50,000 for finding Jai, refused to believe it. “The sarpanch has been saying different things to different people. To a news channel, he said that the tiger looks like Jai,” said wildlife photographer

Vinit Arora

.

“The driver of the vehicle in which the sarpanch was travelling told volunteers that the tiger had no radio collar. How can two people see two different things,” he asked.

Arora wanted Muniswar’s recording to be done in the presence of “all locals and wildlifers who are part of the search operations”.

Seeking camera trap images for a confirmation, Sarosh Lodhi of Conservation Lenses and Wildlife (CLAW), said, “Sightings of Jai have been recorded by villagers at six different places at the same time. Is that possible? It is difficult to believe Muniswar’s statement”.

Following Muniswar’s claimed sighting, around nine Special

Tiger Protection Force

(STPF) teams fanned out in the area but found no trace of Jai’s presence.

Shahid Parvez Khan

of Save Ecosystem And Tiger (SEAT), Bhandara, who visited the spot where Muniswar saw the tiger, said that the driver was sure he did not see a collar. “It is difficult to recognize a tiger in middle of the night. There is another male tiger which frequents the same area. Some cattle owners have confirmed its recent sightings,” he said.


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