T1 was shot by Hyderabad-based sharp shooter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan’s son Asghar (35) around 11 pm. There was no wildlife veterinarian accompanying him, which is mandatory as per norms. After the incident forest officials went into huddle and were shy of confirming the facts to TOI.
The forest department violated its own order upheld by high court and the Supreme Court, which stated that first tranquillizing efforts would be done before eliminating. However, during the last two months operation not a single attempt was made to capture the tigress.
According to sources involved in conducting spot panchnama, a dart was seen pierced on the body of T1 but it looked as if it had not been fired and pinched manually. However, only forensic and ballistic tests can show what exactly happened. Forensic expert from Karnataka Dr Prayag HS demanded a fair post-mortem to expose anomalies in killing of T1.
“Local vets can always succumb to pressure from forest officials. As it is as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol on capturing problem tigers, darting is prohibited from sunset to sunrise. Even if the forest department claims that attempts to dart T1 were done, these must have been done in the night, which is illegal,” said sources.
An exclusive picture of T1 with TOI shows that the dart has been pinched on tigress thigh body but not fired. It seems Asghar Ali shot the animal from close range.
Though as per Section 11/1 (A) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, chief wildlife warden may permit any person to hunt any Schedule-I animal becoming dangerous to humans, provided that he is satisfied that such animal cannot be captured, tranquillized or translocated.
“Interestingly, orders to shoot the tigress were issued by PCCF (wildlife) AK Misra in the name of Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, who was not present at the scene when the shooting took place,” said officials.
Earlier, while talking to TOI during a spot visit to Pandharkawda last months, Khan had said he did not want to get into any legal trouble due to pre-condition of tranquilizing. “T1 cannot be darted in night and during the day it is invisible. Hence, I don’t want to enter into legal trouble by violating present order,” he had said.
“T1 has been shot dead in Forest Development Corporation Maharashtra (FDCM) area in compartment number 149 Borati. The spot panchnama was conducted between 1 am and 3 am and the carcass was immediately shifted to Gorewada Rescue Centre at Nagpur for post-mortem. Entire process will be video graphed,” forest officials told TOI.
Both, Misra and APCCF (wildlife) Sunil Limaye, whose headquarters were shifted to Pandharkawda till T1 was either captured or eliminated, were not available for comments. No PCCF representative was present at the spot as per NTCA protocol. Barring Yavatmal CCF PG Rahurkar, no senior officers either visited the site. NTCA has sought a detailed report on T1 killing.
The shooting of T1 sans any tranquilizing efforts has come in for sharp criticism from wildlife lovers. “This is a cold blooded murder. Why efforts were not made to first dart the animal as per court orders. The forest department had promised to make tranqulizing first before killing,” said petitioner Dr Jerryl Banait.
The department spent at least Rs 60-70 lakh on T1 capture operation in the last two months by roping in 200 men, thermal drones, perfume Calvin Klein, sniffer dogs, paraglider and 112 camera traps. But the tigress kept eluding the efforts to capture.
“The clash of egos between shooter Khan, officials and wildlife vets led to complete chaos in the field and the department itself was virtually divided on shooting T1. There was lack of unity and coordination between Khan and wildlife vets which led to this situation,” said Dr Banait.
T1 was blamed for killing 13 villagers but there are four tigers in the problem area. The immediate provocation by PCCF (wildlife) to issue shoot orders for T1 was killing of three villagers in August. The whereabouts of two cubs of T1 are unknown and as of now there is no concrete plan with the department to capture them.
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2yJlj0Y
