Is Jai, the pride of Nagpur jungles, dead?

Gloom engulfs wildlife lovers on the International Tiger Day
As government and forest officials celebrate the International Tiger Day today with fanfare, there are many wildlife enthusiasts in Nagpur, who are already mourning the death of Jai, the most popular and iconic tiger of Vidarbha jungles, who has been missing for the past three months now. On one hand, serious efforts are being made to turn Nagpur into the official Tiger Capital of India, and on the other hand, some of the most glorious wild cats have gone missing from Vidarbha jungles and could be dead in all probability.And now the latest reports emerging on Jai front, are really quite devastating.
Wild goose chase
Jai was last sighted on April 18 at Paoni, and for almost three months after that, there was no trace of the tiger. Soon, a furore over Jai’s mysterious disappearance began, and wildlife lovers started a campaign to find him. Hawans, pujas, poster campaigns were all part of this endeavour. Recently a report claimed that Jai was sighted on July 12 in Adyal range, Bhandara, by a former sarpanch. But Sarosh Lodhi, one of the most active members of Conservation Lenses and Wildlife public group, who’s working for wildlife conservation, revealed: “That report is an eyewash. Our team went to the site to verify the facts. Firstly, the sarpanch in question says that he saw the tiger post midnight. Now the question is how can he be so sure that it was Jai? Secondly, when we spoke to the driver of his car, he said that there was no collar is the tiger’s neck, when Jai is a radio-collared tiger. Ever since, we started the mission to locate Jai, we are getting three-four hoax calls every day.”
‘Jai is dead’
While most of the wildlife enthusiasts fear the worst, one of them who regularly followed the trails of the famous tiger, Mohammad Junaid, voiced his fear as he said: “I strongly feel Jai is already dead. I have interacted with quite a few villagers and they have given me some insights, but they all fear coming out in the open. Even forest officials know that Jai is dead; they are just trying to cover up the news.”
Sarosh went on to add: “Jai is too important a tiger for forest department, they have also made some efforts now to trace him. But those have been half-hearted attempts. We have announced reward for those who give news of Jai’s sighting, but deep within, I feel Jai is dead.”
CCF speaks
When we contacted Pench’s chief conservator of forests and field director MS Reddy, he said: “I have no reason to believe that Jai’s dead. He has several mature sons in the same forest, so I’m sure he has moved along to another territory. It happens all the time with the tigers.”
No cattle killing for three months
Wildlife lovers, however, feel the chances of Jai’s survival are quite bleak. Wildlife enthusiast Vinit Arora, whose initial pictures of Jai in Umred Karhandla jungles made the tiger popular on social media, said: “There have been no news of cattle killing along the entire 500-600 sq km of Jai’s territory. He loved to kill the cattle even if he didn’t consume it.” Sarosh added: “Even if he has gone to MP, Rajasthan or AP, as some of the weird reports claim, then why aren’t there any reports of cattle killing there, which was the trademark of Jai?”
The case of missing cats
Shriniwas (Jai’s son)
Missing: For 15 days from Umred Karhandla
Dendu (Jai’s father)
Missing: For a year from Nagzira
Veeru (Jai’s brother)
Missing: For two years from Nagzira
Alfa (and her two cubs)
Missing: For eight months from Nagzira