‘Killer shot was inevitable as tigress leapt towards us’

Man-eater tigress T1, also known as Avni, was shot dead late Friday night in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra.
Nawab Shafath Ali Khan along with his son Asghar Ali, who shot the tigress Avi
Nawab Shafath Ali Khan along with his son Asghar Ali, who shot the tigress Avi

HYDERABAD: "Man-eater" tigress T1, also known as Avni, believed to be behind the death of 13 persons in Pandharkawda, was shot dead late Friday night at Yavatmal district in Maharashtra not by the key marksman who was tasked to do so, but by his son. 

Hyderabad-based shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan's son Asghar Ali Khan- a certified big game hunter and a big bore event champion, had a 'crack shot' at the tigress leaping at the special team from a five feet distance and took her town with a single bullet from his 458 magnum rifle. 

The 36-year-old, the Nawab's co-shooter in last several operations, is also an MBA from Leeds University and manages family business in the Nilgiris. 

The shot, the 60-year-old says, was inevitable as the tigress aggressively charged at the team's open top jeep soon after being hit with a tranquilising dart. 

"I was away in Bihar for the state wildlife boards meeting. At around 6.30pm Friday our base camp got information about spotting the tigress on the main road to Ralegaon town," he said. The team of foresters, police and special team quickly cleared public from the vicinity but could spot the tigress again only around 11pm. "A tranquilizer dart was fired by one of the foresters but before the drug could take effect, the tigress aggressively charged at the team and Asghar had to take a clean shot," said the Nawab. It was Asghar's first shot at a tigress.

It was a 38 days-and-nights long, and the longest operation for the senior ace-shooter with a license to kill. As many as 9 teams of 200 frontline staff and foresters patrolled extremely dangerous terrains. 

For the Nawab, the search operation that started on September 12 is far from over. The secretary of Hyderabad-based Wildlife Tranqui Force (WTF), speaking to Express from Pandharkawada, said all his efforts were to bait the tiger and her cubs to a safe place and tranquilise them and move to a rescue centre. 

"We came dangerously close to T1 at least thrice but the terrain was very difficult. She would stay in thick bushes all throughout the day and come out only during nights," he said.

Following the death of tigress, he said, "We will save the cubs as SC has directed us. But they are large and capable of surviving on their own. I have drawn a plan to feed them young pigs and then we'll tranquilise them.' Tigress T1 has left behind two cubs which are over 10 months old, where as, another male tiger, T2, is also believed to be a man-eater. 

Earlier, the tigress had gained massive support online and offline from conservationists and animal lovers who argued there was no conclusive evidence of Avni's role in any of the alleged human kills in Pandharkawada in the last 18 months. They had knocked the doors of several courts including the Apex court, who rejected the mercy petition and upheld the order of Nagpur HC to shoot the man-eater tigress as a last resort. The tigress' death gained a lot of traction on social media Saturday. 

On asked about all the criticisms he faces, "My work is my identity. I work with forest departments on invitation and charge nothing. In the last 38 days, we managed to avert any human casualty and that is victory for me," he stated. 

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