Orphaned, tigress Avni’s 10-month-old cubs stare at death or captivity

Representational image | Satyabrata Tripathy via Getty Images

Tigress Avni, a suspected man-eater, was killed in a late-night operation in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal.

New Delhi: Hours after tigress Avni was shot dead by Hyderabad-based hunter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan’s son, the fate of her two cubs remained uncertain.

The press note released by Maharashtra’s forest department to announce Avni’s death made no mention of her two 10-month old cubs.

The forest department had engaged Khan for an operation to tranquilise and capture Avni, a six-year-old tigress who is believed to have killed at least five human beings. The forest department had specified in its order that she was only to be killed if all efforts to tranquilise her failed – a fact reiterated by the Supreme Court.

However, Avni appears to have been shot during the night, between sunset and sunrise, which is prohibited under the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol, though the department insists the shooting was meant “in self defence”.

‘Orphaned’

“Typically, whenever Avni would go on a hunt, she would leave her cubs in a place of safety, and they would not come out until she called them,” said Jerryl Banait, a doctor who had filed a petition in the Bombay High Court against the order, which he saw as permission to kill Avni, a member of an endangered species.

“Now, there’s a chance that they get killed by other animals or just die of starvation in the jungle… Right now, we can assume that they’re waiting for their mother to come back,” he said.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, tiger cubs remain with their mothers for at least two-three years, before which they cannot fend for themselves. The cubs cannot hunt until they are 18 months old, and it is only after two to three years that they begin to move away to find their own territory.

According to the Maharashtra forest department’s order, issued by chief conservator of forest A.K. Mishra and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, the two cubs were to be tranquilised and shifted to a rescue centre in the eventuality of Avni’s death.

If the cubs are rescued by the forest department, they will have a miserable life because they will be kept in captivity, Banait said. “Whatever be the case, what we do know is the cubs have been orphaned now.”

The operation

In what activists called a complete violation of the law, Avni was killed in the absence of a veterinarian, which is a prerequisite.

Meanwhile, the forest department has released details of the operation that led to Avni’s killing.

“In a late night operation, the maneater Tigress T-1… was shot dead by the forest patrolling team,” a statement by the department said.

After reportedly receiving several messages from local villagers about Avni’s whereabouts on 2 November, the patrol team took position near Borati village at Yavatmal.

“Even this team sighted the tiger several times… When certain about the identity, the team member Sheikh attempted a dart that hit it… but [the] tigress moved back and charged at the team, which was in an open gypsy,” the statement said. “So, as a reflex action of self-defence, Mr. Asghar [Khan’s son] fired from a distance of about 8-10 metres,” the department said.

Asghar’s presence at the site had stoked a controversy, with questions raised on how he got there when the department had just engaged Khan.

A forest officer said Khan’s son was part of the hunter’s eight-member team, and thus, “there was nothing odd about him shooting the tigress”.

However, even the involvement of Khan, whom critics describe as a “bloodthirsty” hunter, was widely condemned from the beginning by animal rights activists.

Avni’s body has been sent to Nagpur’s Gorewada Zoo, where an autopsy was underway Saturday afternoon.