Actor Chiranjeevi has responded to the news of a fan stuck in Ukraine who was influenced by one of the star’s films to raise a panther and jaguar at his home, and has now refused to abandon them to escape the ongoing war. Giri Kumar Patil, a doctor from Andhra Pradesh working in Ukraine, had become famous through his YouTube channel where he documents his experiences of having a jaguar named Yagwar and a black panther named Sabrina as pets. Appreciating Kumar’s resolve to stay back in the war-torn country to take care of the animals, Chiranjeevi wrote in a note addressed to him, “Your compassion and love for these wonderful creatures is highly admirable.”
Kumar, who goes by the name Jaguar Kumar on social media, has been documenting his struggles with procuring food for the panther and jaguar and taking care of them while holed up in a bunker in the middle of the war. He has said that his love for big cats and desire to have them as pets began after he saw Chiranjeevi’s film Lankeswarudu as a child. In a note addressed to him, Chiranjeevi wrote, “Dear Dr.Giri Kumar Patil, I am delighted and touched to learn that your love for jaguars and panthers was inspired by me. It is truly heartening that you are not willing to leave them behind during this unfortunate war time and are choosing to stay back in Ukraine for the sake of care giving to your pet panther and jaguar. Your compassion and love for these wonderful creatures is highly admirable.”
“I pray for your safety during this challenging period and wish the war ends soon and normalcy is restored at the earliest. Meanwhile please stay safe and look after your pets. God Bless! (sic),” he added.
Meanwhile, Kumar posted a video on YouTube saying he might stop posting to the channel for a while. He said that YouTube has paused monetisation of his videos as he currently resides in the Luhansk People's Republic. He said his mobile network has been deactivated intermittently, and expressed worry that he might lose internet access soon.
During a live session on YouTube on March 10, he said he had been receiving a lot of negative comments. He said he was in a very difficult situation as he lives in a disputed region near Severodonetsk where there were frequent airstrikes and leaving was very difficult and expensive. He also said that he was in touch with zoo officials in Russia but it would be very difficult to move the animals there.
#TeluguDoctor #UkraineWar #Jaguar #Panther #compassion #petlovers https://t.co/XqyUT6ebbN pic.twitter.com/balOzxRj26
— Chiranjeevi Konidela (@KChiruTweets) March 10, 2022