Andhra-born Doctor Kumar Decides To Stay Back In Ukraine For His Jaguar And Leopard

A few Indian students, who were evacuated from the war-torn Ukraine, struggled hard to bring back their pet cats and dogs home as they didn’t want to abandon these animals while leaving the foreign country. Recently, a student from Kerala brought her pet cat from Ukraine while Rishabh Kaushik from Dehradun had to run from pillar to post to get a No-objection certificate from the Indian embassy in Ukraine to take his pet dog ‘Maliboo’ on board the evacuation flight. 

However, Dr Kumar Bandi, who lives in Donbas, Ukraine, has chosen to stay back as he cannot abandon his two big cats - leopard and black panther and return home. Kumar is a native of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, who went to Ukraine some 15 years ago to study medicine. After finishing studies, he settled in Donbas and started practicing in the city. His unmatched concern and love for animals in times of crisis has earned him praises back home. 

Truly, the power of a human-animal bond is fascinating. It is pleasing to know that Dr Kumar Bandi, a native of Tanuku in AP, stayed back in #Ukraine as he did not want to leave behind his 2 big pet cats —a leopard & a black panther — at the mercy of others in a war-torn country. pic.twitter.com/yWdnp9J4Dt

— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) March 6, 2022

Dr Kumar is also a YouTuber, who keeps documenting his friendly encounters with jaguars at home. He calls these big cats as his family and does not want to simply desert them and  leave Ukraine. As the conflict further escalates in Ukraines, he lives in a bunker of his house to stay safe from Russian air strikes on the city.