Groblersdal - The owners of Panjo, the tiger which went missing on Monday night and was found two days later, could face two years in jail or a R3 000 fine for transporting a wild animal in Mpumalanga without a permit.
The Mpumalanga Parks Board said on Thursday that Panjo's owner, Goosey Fernandes, could face criminal charges for transporting an exotic animal without a permit.
The tiger lives on Fernandes's Jugomaro Game Farm near Groblersdal in Limpopo, but was on his way to Gauteng via Mpumalanga for a visit to a vet.
Louw Steyn, spokesman of the board's wildlife unit, said officials were trying to establish from their counterparts in Limpopo whether Fernandes had a permit to keep the tiger in that province.
"He may have broken the laws of three provinces here. He keeps the tiger in Groblersdal, which is in Limpopo, but it escaped in Mpumalanga while being transported to Gauteng," said Steyn on Thursday.
Fernandes denied that he had transported Panjo in Mpumalanga without the necessary permits.
"I am a businessman who owns a game farm worth R10 million, and I do things according to the law. The Mpumalanga Parks Board is welcome to come to my farm and talk to me about the permit. I am not prepared to talk about this matter, only the wellbeing of my cat," said Fernandes.
Fernandes said he would like to thank South Africans for their help and compassion in the search for Panjo.
"Everyone was amazing in the search to help me find my cat. I was not charged a cent for the whole search. This is what you guys should be asking me, not about whether I have a permit for my cat or not," added Fernandes.
He said Panjo was back on the farm in Groblersdal and the family was still celebrating his return. "He is fine and looks good," he added.
The 17-month-old Bengal tiger caused panic in Mpumalanga when it was reported that he had escaped from the back of a bakkie somewhere between Groblersdal and Delmas.
Some people from the nearby township of Botleng did not go to work on Tuesday and Wednesday, saying they would not feel safe until they had been assured that the tiger had been captured. Some parents even kept their kids out of school.
Panjo was finally found on Wednesday evening on the farm Swartkoppies in Verena by a tracking dog called Zingela. The dog's owner, Conrad de Rosner, works in Sabi Sands Game Reserve, where the animal is used to track wounded game. The tiger's spoor had first been picked up by tracker Johnson Mhlanga from Singita Lodge in Mpumalanga.
