Maharashtra: Tigress Avni allegedly killed 13 people, shot dead

According to a report in ANI, Tigress Avni, was shot dead in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on November 2. The man-eating tigress had allegedly killed 13 people over a period of two years. Further details will be shared by the Forensic department today in Nagpur.

In September this year, the Supreme Court had said that Tigress Avni — popularly known as T1, could be shot on sight, prompting a flurry of online petitions. According to reports, Tiger Avni is survived by two cubs, who are said to be 10-month-old.

From last few months, 150 ground personnel equipped with the latest technology, elephants and so-called expert trackers and shooters were on a quest for Avni.

The hunt for the tigress was on, with the help of trap cameras, drones, a pack of trained sniffer dogs and a hang-glider along with a team of Forest Department officials in the vicinity of the Tippeshwar Tiger Sanctuary. The forest department had also hired the services of controversial private marksman Shafat Ali Khan.

According to reports, Avni was first spotted in the forests of Yavatmal in 2012. DNA evidence links her to 5 of the 13 bodies found in the thickets she inhabits. Biologists and the Forest Department officials who have surveyed the area over the past few years say that there is only one other tiger there, a male tiger. His DNA was found on one of the bodies.

Last month, the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench admitted a petition that sought a stay on plans to kill the tigress and instead capture her alive. Wildlife activist Jerryl A. Banait t contended that instead of killing her, which will orphan her cubs, the Forest Department should capture her alive, as per the Supreme Court ordered on September 11.

Tigress Avni’s postmortem will be conducted at Nagpur’s Gorewada Rescue Centre.

Also read: Gujarat: 23 lions dead in Gir Sanctuary in a month