Tiger tales: 'Veeru' lost, Telangana now apprehensive of 'Jai'

Telangana, Aug 8: Amid campaigns for national conservation of Tigers, Telangana is already mourning for its famous Tiger duo-Jai and Veeru. Named after Sholay's Jai and Veeru, the Tigers have been very popular Umred Karhandla sanctuary in Maharashtra.

Following a request from the Maharashtra forest department, the TS foresters have launched a search operation for the missing Tiger Jai whose tracker also went off on April 18.

The 7 year old Tiger weighs about 250 Kg and had been fitted with a radio collar which went off the very same day when he went missing. Forest authorities are not ruling out death by poachers.
Meanwhile, the district forest offer at Kagaznagar in Adilabad district said that there was no trace of the Tiger at the first entry point of Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.

He said, "We deployed 35 trackers. It's well built, 9.5 to 10 feet in length with 16-18 cm pug marks. It can travel long distances. It might have left in search of a mate or new territory."

Spread over 91,760 sq km, the Kagaznagar forest belt has 22 tigers. Jai and Veeru were born to Mai at Nagzira sanctuary in Maharashtra in 2010. While Veeru was already missing, Jai had traversed 100 kilometers, crossed highways, rivers and villages, but returned home. However, he cannot be traced this time.

OneIndia News