NEW DELHI: Where is Jai? A group of parliamentarians Tuesday in Lok Sabha raised serious concerns about the missing tiger, one of the biggest in the country, from last six months in Maharashtra. One of the parliament members even demanded the Centre to take Interpol help to check the cases of tiger poaching in the country.
The matter of 250-kilogram Jai, who has been missing since April this year from Umred-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary of Nagpur was raised in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. The male tiger was the star attraction of Sanctuary.
Vinayak Bhaurao Raut, Shiv Sena MP from Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg raised concerns that despite huge allocation under Project Tiger to Maharashtra, the big cat has been missing and questioned Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave about action taken by the National Tiger Conservation Authority under the environment ministry.
Dave accepted that Jai has been missing for the last six months and all efforts are being made to search him. According to state forest officials, his radio collar also stopped working after he went missing.
“Adult tigers have a sprawling territory of 100 square kilometer and it is not easy to search him. Now that the monsoon season is over so we are searching him. However, there is no evidence that the tiger has been killed and it might be alive,” Dave told the parliament.
Nana Patole, BJP MP from Bhandara-Gondiya in Maharashtra demanded that the Centre should take help of Interpol to stop tigers from being poached.
“The minister had said earlier that the Centre would seek help from Interpol if needed. Jai has been poached as there is demand for tiger parts,” said Patole.
Dave assured the house that as of now there is no information on the missing tiger.
“There is demand for tiger parts in Southeast Asia and China and we keep a tab on such activities. We also take help of Interpol whenever need arises,” said the minister.
India is home to largest tiger in the wild. According to 2014 Census, their numbers stand at 2226, which is 70 percent of world’s population.