HYDERABAD: Days after Avni aka T1 — the supposed man-eater that killed 13 persons — had been shot dead by Hyderabad-based ace-shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan’s son Asghar Ali Khan, the Supreme Court had directed the Maharashtra Forest Department to trace the two 11-month-old cubs of the tigress and rehabilitate them.
Animal activists, who have been actively raising their voices against this move, can finally take a breather as it has become unlikely that the cubs would be tranquillised and moved out of Maharashtra’s Yavatmal forest.
The little cubs have been fending for themselves after their mother’s death. Speaking to Express from Yavatmal, Khan said the two cubs are sub-adults, healthy, hunting on their own and out of any danger of starving to death.
The tigers, held in compartment 655, have been camera-trapped for the past three days. They have killed and eaten a pony that was saved for them as food. Khan has now decided to write to Maharashtra Forest department to adopt a wait and watch approach as the tiger cubs are able to fend for themselves. “They are a concern only if they resort to killing people. They should not be removed until then.”
According to him, tranquilizing them will leave them in a lot of stress and moving them to another forest would prove harmful as tigers are territorial. “The cubs are born here and at the moment it appears it’s best to leave them on their own here.”