Officials searching for India's biggest tiger, who went missing, think he's dead

This old picture of Jai shows that he wasnt just any big cat but one of the biggest PicsVinit AroraIt has been over two years since Jai one of the nations biggest and most beloved tigers went missing and wildlife authorities have now admitted that we may have lost him forever An investigative report from the National Tiger Conservation Authority NTCA has raised serious questions about the tigers monitoring by the Wildlife Institute of India WII which had delayed launching a search operationConsidering the available information and in absence of concrete evidence about the fate of Jai this committee is of the view that it is very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause for his sudden disappearance and death cant be ruled out stated the report which is yet to be presented in the public domain Jais disappearance on April 18 2016 was a major blow to the wildlife community The sevenyearold was not just any big cat but one of the biggest in the country He was the most famous inhabitant of the Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary UKWS and had made the park popular during his stay thereDr Bilal Habib had radiocollared JaiRadio silenceEqually important is the debate about his radio collar the monitoring device should have made it easy to track down the missing tiger but it stopped functioning when he disappeared The NTCA also raised questions about the team led by senior scientist Dr Bilal Habib that had collared and was monitoring Jai His team did not raise the alarm when Jais radio collar went silent in April 2016 In fact the authorities only launched a fullfledged search operation for him in July 2016 after an increasing number of people began to comment on the tigers absencemidday accessed the NTCA report titled Missing Tigers of Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary UKWS and Navegaon Nagzira Tiger Reserve which states There was a delay in starting intensive search operations following Jais disappearance on April 18 2016According to forest officials the initial disappearance was explained as a natural process The officials and researchers were under the impression that Jai might have gone out of UKWS as he had done in the past and would return after a few weeks This general belief seems to affect the judgment to act in time to investigate the disappearanceOn the other hand a forest department official said From April 18 2016 to July 2 2016 we conducted search operation in and around the sanctuary Dr Bilal and his team had done extensive camera trapping in UKWS and Brahmapuri Forest DivisionStrong tiger weak theoryDr Habibs explanation for Jais disappearance at the time was that Jai might have been pushed out his territory by another tiger However wildlife lovers did not buy this theory as Jai was the dominant tiger in the area and was unlikely to have been ousted by another maleThe NTCA report also rejected Dr Habibs theory There are issues with respect to the explanation given by Dr Habib In case of UKWLS the subadult male tigers are too young 18 to 24 months to pose a challenge to an established tiger in his prime and there is no report of territorial fight or aggression between territorial male and subadult tigers There is no record of adult male tigers giving away territory without any aggressive interactionSome wildlife lovers alleged that Dr Habibs theory was intended to hide their shortcomings and infectiveness in tracking the collared tiger Speaking to midday a wildlife photographer said It was the job of the WII team that had radiocollared Jai to keep track of his activity There have been serious lapses on the part of the team because of which there was a delay in starting the search operation They should be held accountable thisWildlife activist Dr Sarita Subramanian said The NTCA report only reiterates the belief wildlife lovers have always expressed radio collaring is a futile exercise unless it is substantiated with realtime data sent to the ground staff for monitoring in real time Dr Bilal Habib said I have not read or have any copy of that reportAlso read Team of three to probe missing tiger Jais case