London: An orthopaedic doctor from Andhra Pradesh, who was based in Ukraine when the conflict broke out with Russia, has appealed to the Indian government to help rescue his pet jaguar and panther left behind when he was forced out of the war zone, A PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Dr Gidikumar Patil, known as Jaguar Kumar on account of his unusual pets, says his topmost priority is to save the life of his “precious cats” – Yasha, a male rare “lep-jag” hybrid between a leopard and jaguar, and Sabrina, a female black panther.
The 42-year-old, from Tanuku in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India, was forced to leave them behind with a local farmer when he left Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, a hotbed of the conflict in the region, in search of alternate sources of income.
Since the Indian embassy in Kyiv is unable to help, he said his message for the government of India would be to help him through his predicament
“My humble message is to immediately consider and rapidly act to fix this conundrum with the best possible solution, keeping in view the exact current situation of the cats and an emphasis on their immediate safety,” Patil told PTI from Warsaw, Poland, where he is currently staying
“My feeling of being away from my cats is too intense; at times there is depression, wistful reminiscences of those fond memories and apprehensions about their well-being and fate overall,” he said.
As a Ukrainian citizen, Patil had been working in a now bombed hospital at Svavtove in Severodonetsk when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out earlier this year.
He had acquired his two unusual pets from a zoo in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv around two years ago and has been devoted to them ever since.
Through his YouTube channel with over 62,000 subscribers, Patil has been streaming updates of his curious life with the big cats as pets over the past few months and says his dream project is to receive enough funding for a breeding project to help protect the endangered species. In fact, it was these videos that protected him from the Russian onslaught on his way out of Luhansk as they proved his neutrality in the conflict.
For the safety of his pets, Patil says he is open to any solution that any friendly country is willing to offer – whether it is closer to their current home in neighbouring western Ukraine or somewhere in Europe or India.
He had acquired his two unusual pets from a zoo in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv around two years ago and has been devoted to them ever since.
“The principal issue is whether I can continue to have authorised access to them, which is crucial as this actually is a serious project. I’m not sure of the wildlife rules and legislations in India, whether they permit this kind of a thing,” said Patil.
As a middle-class man, the animal lover has exhausted most of his savings to feed and care for the big cats. From updates he has from the local farmer now looking after them in Ukraine, it would seem the bond is mutual as they are reportedly pining for him too.
*********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com