Who is the doctor who refuses to leave his two tigers stranded in Ukraine?

Who is the doctor who refuses to leave his two tigers stranded in Ukraine?

For more than two weeks, an Indian doctor with two tigers has been trapped in the basement of a house in war-torn Ukraine.

 About 20 months ago, Girikumar Patil bought two tigers from the zoo in Kyiv, one of them is a yellow Jaguar and the other is a black tiger.

 Patil, 40, is an orthopedic surgeon who has lived alone for more than six years in Severodonetsk, in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. 

Since the war began, Patil doesn't leave his cramped basement until past the early morning curfew to buy food for his rare 20-month-old jaguar and six-month-old black tiger - who live with him. 

To feed the two tigers, Patil said that since the start of the war, he has been buying about 23 kilograms of mutton and chicken for his two tigers from neighboring villages, at four times the price before the war.

 "I spend the night in the basement with my two tigers," said Patil. "The bombs are falling on us. The two tigers are very scared. They are eating less than they used to. I can't leave them." 

"This is my second war, but it's the scariest," said Patil.

 Since 2014, Patil has been living in Luhansk region, where fighting between the warring Ukrainian forces has continued despite a ceasefire agreement. The fight resulted in the destruction of the house where Patil lived and the Indian restaurant he opened. 

Patil moved to Severodonetsk, 100 km away from where he used to live, where he bought a new place, started practicing his profession as a doctor, and also bought two tigers. 

"Now I'm stuck in a war zone," Patil said, "This time I'm dying of anxiety. My parents are asking me to go to my homeland, but I can't leave the tiger.

" Patil hails from Andhra Pradesh in southern India. He went to Ukraine in 2007 to study medicine. Since 2014, he has been practicing orthopedics. 

Patil paid $35,000 for the two tigers and bought them from the Kyiv Zoo 20 months ago. He noted that the park allowed the animals to be sold privately, provided the buyer had a place to stay.

Patil lives in a two-story house with a small petting zoo. He said that he spends most of his money on raising these animals. Patil also has three dogs apart from the two tigers. 

The doctor from India is trying to increase his income on YouTube, where he uploads videos of the two tigers. Patil's YouTube channel has 85,000 subscribers.