“Once the tigress is taken care of, the Cubs will have to be captured alive as per order by raising a chain-linked fencing around the area to squeeze them in,” Khan added. (Representational)
Sharp-shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, whose presence in the operation to capture the ‘man-eater’ tigress of Yavatmal has angered wildlife activists, said that there is virtually no chance of capturing the tigress alive under the existing circumstances.
In a telephonic conversation with The Indian Express, Khan said, “the tigress and her two cubs hide in the thick lantana bushes during the day and could come out in the night as tigers are highly nocturnal animals. Over the past few months, the Forest Department has tried to capture her unsuccessfully, leading to loss of valuable time. Now she has got used to the conditions and she isn’t coming back to her kills. I am bound by rules that prohibit me from tranquilising her between sunset and sunrise. So, the chances of her being captured alive are zero.”
“Once the tigress is taken care of, the Cubs will have to be captured alive as per order by raising a chain-linked fencing around the area to squeeze them in,” Khan added.
Sixty-year-old Khan has been camping in the trouble-torn area of Pandharkawda division in Yavatmal district for last ten days following an invitation by the Forest Department after the Supreme Court paved way for shooting the tigress and capturing the cubs, while disposing of petitions by wildlife activists against the shoot order issued by Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) A K Mishra. He has since been in the midst of controversy over his alleged fallout with the local Forest team headed by Deputy Conservator of Forest K M Abharna, vis-a-vis purported dispute with the team of expert darters from Madhya Pradesh.
“The tigress has got used to humans and had also killed and eaten their bodies. Her cubs, too, have fed on human bodies,” says Khan. (Representational)
The MP team has returned after about a week’s stay in the field. Mishra said, “the media reports may claim anything. The fact was that it had come here only for a week and had gone back.” MP PCCF Shahbaz Ahmed said, “we had Sent it for a week. So, they have returned. And the fact that they have a shooter to do the job, our team needn’t stay back.”
Meanwhile, Khan, too, has proceeded back to Hyderabad, for Muharram. “I will return after 2-3 days,” he said.
Khan paints a very grim situation on the ground. “The tigress has got used to humans and had also killed and eaten their bodies. Her cubs, too, have fed on human bodies. Their natural fear of humans has gone. There are about 20,000 people living in 26 villages in the area. The hiding places of the tigress and her cubs are interspersed with agricultural fields and the cotton crop is already up for harvest. Despite warnings and awareness campaigns, I have seen farmers in their fields as early as 3 am. Three are no natural preys in the area. The tigress has become a habitual cattle-lifter and for she had to keep roaming close to villages. The next human kill is just waiting to happen any time and then all hell will break loose. Who will be responsible for this explosion of anger,” Khan asks, maintaining that the tigress has to be killed, as tranquillisation is not possible in the given situation.
Refuting the allegation that he is trigger-happy, Khan said, “I had captured the tigress of Brahmapuri in July 2017 even when I had shoot orders. I captured a few other tigers alive in cages, which is a very difficult thing to do. But in this case, I maintain that the chances of live capture are zero. A valuable summer window has been lost. Now after the monsoon, there are thickets all around. Anyone with no proper weapon will imperil his life as the tigress has become very aggressive. She had charged at me in a fleeting moment on September 14 but rushed back into lantana thicket before I could train my gun at her. A section of media prompted by activists is slinging mud at me. They are also labelling me as a Naxal arms supplier. Anybody should come forward and show any FIR or conviction by any court against me. I am going to take them to court against this outrageous defamation.”
He also discouraged the reports that he hindered the efforts of the MP team to capture the animal alive. “They had a mandate for seven days till September 19. So, I stepped back. But now their failure is being put on me,” he said.
Khan has been a favourite of many Forest Department in the country and had been roped in for several wildlife culling operations in the past. “I have been into this for past 40 years beginning at an age of 19 years and have done 47 such operations so far. In the past, I have faced such muck-raking by media. At Chalisgaon in Maharashtra, a leopard had killed seven children in 45 days in 2017. There were seven leopards in the area. I figured out the animal and shot it. Then also media had cried foul saying that the wrong animal had been shot. But we have proved we shot the right one as no incident had been reported in the area since then. I have never shot a wrong animal,” he says.
Meanwhile, even as Khan, makes a temporary exit from the field, the Forest Department team which hasn’t been able to capture the tigress has to manage the operation all by itself till he returns.