Panjo a hit on the net

Panjo the tiger, who made national headlines recently after his escapade in Mpumalanga, is now also famous on the internet.

Panjo has his own dedicated Facebook page under “Public figure” and a google search for “Panjo the Tiger” turns up 28 000 results. A “Panjo the tiger” news search gives 470 results, while the footloose tiger turns up 11 800 times when searching South African websites only. His Facebook page currently has 99 members. Some of the comments on the page include, “Do not find me please I’m back to the wild, I’m a wild animal’, and “They want to lock the owner up for two years . . . Criminals walk around, this guy is not a criminal”.

Owner “Goosey” Fernandes was an immensely relieved man when his pet, which had gone missing while being transported on the back of a bakkie to a vet in Springs for vaccinations, was discovered safe and sound.

A tiger hunt involving helicopters, farmers, the local community and the police finally came to an end when the 17-month-old tiger was tracked by Zingela, a 5-year-old Weimaraner near Verena, south-west of Groblersdal. Fernandes described Zingela as “a hero” and thanked the entire team for all their efforts. ” I want to thank the entire nation. I never believed people could be so generous or caring. I really must thank them,” Fernandes told e.tv.

Fernandes told News24 that Panjo eats about 9 to 12kg of meat a day and there were fears that hunger might drive the animal to change his normal pattern of behaviour. Fortunately, though, these fears came to nought and the story had a happy ending.

Panjo’s owner has admitted that he lets the tiger sleep on his bed and that “he’s like a kitten in the house”.

The search eventually involved trackers, farmers in the area, big cat specialists, law enforcement officials, vets and even “Mad Mark” Tennant, whom DStv viewers will remember from the show Mad Mike and Mark. All threw themselves into the search with gusto and were in joyous mood when the famous cat was finally found.