It was a dark day for animal rights activists and wildlife enthusiasts when Avni, the tigress who was accused of being a man-eater was hunted down and killed.?
Avni was tagged a ¡®man-eater¡¯ and more than 100 men, tramped through forests looking for the tigress. She was a five-year-old and a mother of two cubs.
The hunt for Avni was led by Shafath Ali Khan, a sharpshooter and a highly controversial hunter. Khan was assigned to kill Avni, but the death blow was given by his son Asgar Ali Khan, who pulled the trigger in the absence of his father.
In an interview with Times of India, Shafath Ali Khan?narrated his side of the story.?
"Handling weapons and riding horses is in my blood. We are?¡®khandani¡¯ people. My grandfather Nawab Sultan Ali Khan was a fearless target shooter and horseman. It is in our blood to face dangers."
"My job is that of a hangman, how can a hangman be a nasty person.?'
According to Khan, hunting and culling as a sport is fine as long as it doesn't reduce a species. He sites Jim Corbett as an example who shot down problematic tigers.?
"One of the police officers working with anti-Naxal?intelligence agency SIB in Hyderabad wanted to buy one of our properties and my father agreed to sell it. However, the land deal didn¡¯t go forward."
"To put pressure, they foisted a false case against me alleging that I am supplying arms to Maoists I was acquitted by Supreme Court. I am a capitalist and born with a silver spoon. I don¡¯t subscribe to any left-wing ideology, he said."
In the past, he has been assigned many such hunts by various state governments, majorly from Maharashtra, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh to help him capture troublesome animals including tigers, leopards, bears and elephants.
In 2016, the Bihar government had roped in him to kill nilgais and according to his own account he had killed more than 250 of them, which he terms as 'free social service'.
Read the full interview here.
Also Read:?After Avni, Another Tigress Killed, This Time In Designated Dudhwa Tiger Reserve In UP