Jaguar and black panther doctor-owner to flee Ukraine after Indian government intervention

An Indian doctor stranded with a jaguar and a panther in his basement in war-torn Ukraine has, reportedly, been made a relocation offer by the Indian government.

Dr Giri Kumar Patil, 40, had refused to be airlifted by the Indian government immediately after the Russian invasion began, The Times of India reported on Saturday, April 30.

The doctor, popularly known as Jaguar Kumar, said that the Indian government proposed to relocate the two big cats to a zoo.

He, however, wanted to be relocated to either Telangana or his native Andhra Pradesh with his pets.

He also said he would shift to Hyderabad even if he was given a wing in the city’s Nehru Zoological Park for his pets.

Patil, told the BBC that he spent £26,460 to buy the panther and the jaguar from the Kyiv zoo about some two years ago.

He said the zoo allowed private sales of animals provided the owner had enough space to keep them

Patil said he arrived in Ukraine in 2007 to study medicine. Since 2014, he has been a practising orthopaedic doctor and worked in a government hospital in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast.

Patil´s jaguar is a rare hybrid between a male leopard and a female jaguar.

He had refused to leave Ukraine without his pets.

“My parents have been calling me and asking me to come home, but I can’t leave the animals,” he said previously.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.