[anjan_c2007]

I am not a hardcore wildlife enthusiast, but have always been an admirer of these creatures and their habitat. The killing of tigress Avni is sparking on Saturday night (11.45 pm IST) a debate between the killers and animal lovers. Having observed many court sittings at the HC of Bombay, Nagpur Bench, when the shooting order by the Forest deptt was first stayed, it was animal lover Mr Jerryl Banait and his lawyers who were solely fighting it out tooth and nail against the State Forest Departments shooting orders. No one else (incl the any of the small or big animal lover clubs and so on) was in sight. The Respondents could not produce an iota of evidence to prove that the same tigress branded as a culprit had indeed preyed on 13 human beings. The judgment of the Supreme Court listed words of caution calling for tranquilisation of the animal first and that it be killed it only in self defence.

And it is clear that the action and killing of 02/11/2018 night is in contempt of the Supreme Court verdict. The tranquilizer dart as reports say was planted on the carcass after the shooting. The state forest chief viz. PCCF office was shifted more than a month ago to nearby Pandhrakawda and scores of camera traps, sniffer dogs and all sorts of equipment including drones were being used.

The tigress Avni was shot on her torso and not on her head or neck. It is alleged that she had attacked the team that night near Borati village in Yavatmal dist. A tiger attack is head on and the lie is nailed here. The beast was shot on its side. There was no veterinarian in this shooter's team as desired by the SoP.

Having worked in the area around Ralegaon and the forests there as a geologist on a mapping asssignment, camping there for three continuous months in mid 1987, we roamed the forests and hinterland. We also worked in the adjacent Ghatanji area for another three months in 1986-87. There were no tigers sadly in those days in the area. Among the wild animals sighted were plenty of hares and jackals. Maybe we missed out on some wild dogs, hyenas, bisons and bears that were also known to inhabit these forests. It was soothing to know that tigers have now made this area their territory.

The barbaric and condemnable killing exposes the underbelly of our bureaucracy which is known for non- application of its mind. It is evident that the team was in a hurry to leave the forest and go home to celebrate Diwali. Our sympathies for the two 11 month old cubs of the slain mother, who are yet to learn to prey upon their targets for survival. A cub needs to be 24 months old to hunt on its own.

[mallumowgli]

Really sad state of affairs

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

The Respondents could not produce an iota of evidence to prove that the same tigress branded as a culprit had indeed preyed on 13 human beings.

There are reports that whenever Avni attacked it was inside the forest and has always attacked only in self defense

Not convinced about about your point that the officials were in a hurry to finish their job and go home for Diwali. This is a much higher stakes game. Just hoping against hope that the culprits will get their due

[akshaymahajan]

This year has not been great for our big cats. And its high time someone does something about it.

India: Villagers crush man-eating tiger to death with tractor

Source

21 Lion Deaths In 18 Days At Gir, Shocker Blamed On Disease, Fights

Source

And even the elephants

7 Elephants Electrocuted In Odisha While Passing Through A Village

Source


Just seems like humans screwed up somewhere in all cases.

[nkrishnap]

Lot of conspiracy theories are going around on the WhatsApp and social media regarding the killing. Some say that this was Avni at all.

In whatever case, a big cat killed is a dent in the conservation efforts. Human greed to poach forest lands is never ending. Such conflicts and orders to kill will keep continue. UNFORTUNATELY.

[srishiva]

Well, they had to show something for the villagers and people affected by a tiger. What else they could do ? I dont doubt all forest officers and experts. We may have good guys there. But not sure who all were involved in this and what kind of procedure was followed.

[extreme_torque]

Even if it was Avni, was killing the only way? I mean its not as if the Tiger thought about it and specifically attacked humans in which case why the hell not try her in courts! In other news, 465 hectares of forest land has been given to Reliance. First encroach their habitat and if they fight, we kill them. Sad sad state of affairs.

Originally Posted by srishiva

Well, they had to show something for the villagers and people affected by a tiger. What else they could do ? I dont doubt all forest officers and experts. We may have good guys there. But not sure who all were involved in this and what kind of procedure was followed.

"Show something for the villagers" - Really thats your reasoning? Is that how we are going to run our country? Could they not have rehabilitated her?

[digitalnirvana]

It is an utter disaster. A 5 year old female in the prime of her life is gone due to the very organization that should be protecting her has brazenly flouted every rule in the book. And 2 cubs are condemned to death as well.

It fills me with impotent rage at the state of wildlife conservation in our country. There is no coherent plan, no 360 degree inclusive approach and no honesty.

It is an utterly preventable death, and here we are. Reams of newspaper columns are being used condemning it and soon this will be forgotten. No one, NO ONE stood up while the cat was still alive. Our next generation will see these magnificent animals in zoos, and the next in story books.

I am angry and want to do something, but don't know what. Have signed enough Avaaz and change.org petitions but e-activism rarely works.

Rest in peace girl. And RIP to the 3 others who have been hunted in the recent days. We have failed you.

[earthian]

The sad state of affairs is that the ego of our ministers transcends moral, ethical and correct action and governance.

The villagers having approached the Minister- and the Minister having committed publicly to get this sorted- need to demonstrate his valour, his governance, his commitment; and protect his electorate (read protect his being re-elected); overcame all ethical, moral and correct governance. The Forest Department having cowed down to a degree, albeit not fully, had issued orders for capture of T1 as per the laid down procedure. The Minister, in his zealousness and stupidity, bayed for killing it. Reports say he went to the extent of issuing oral orders to the marksmen directly.

The Forest officials and guards are very capable (when they want to show it). In this case, not being convinced that T1 was indeed the culprit, they preferred to twiddle, and let the call be taken by the Minister-who as is usual in pompous, self righteous idiots-took the bait.

I am not convinced at all that T1 could not have been captured alive. A tragedy.

[srishiva]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Even if it was Avni, was killing the only way? I mean its not as if the Tiger thought about it and specifically attacked humans in which case why the hell not try her in courts! In other news, 465 hectares of forest land has been given to Reliance. First encroach their habitat and if they fight, we kill them. Sad sad state of affairs.


"Show something for the villagers" - Really thats your reasoning? Is that how we are going to run our country? Could they not have rehabilitated her?

Thanks for your concern and I concur with that. I was just mentioning what they meant to do. Not what they ought to do.

[JayKis]

This is what one of my friends (Paresh Deshmukh), an avid traveller and tiger watcher, had to say on this issue. Pretty detailed.

https://www.facebook.com/paresh.desh...50933321603333

Do read it if you are interested in understanding why the Pandharkawda tigress T1 a.k.a. Avani was shot down under the orders of concerned authorities.

*(I) A LITTLE ABOUT VERY BASIC OF TIGER BEHAVIOUR -
- Tigers are territorial animals.
- Each adult individual - male or female - has his/her own territory which is regularly patrolled and maintained by them through scent marks, scrape marks, wreck marks etc.
- Cubs of any female typically live with the mother for approximately 2 years and then separate. During these two years, the mother teaches them about survival in the jungle including lessons about hunting.
- Once the cubs are around 2 years old, they have to establish their own territory. This may happen by either dethroning their own mother/father from their home territories, or moving out in search of new land.
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*(II) A LITTLE ABOUT OUR PROTECTED AREAS -
- Our forests can broadly be divided in two parts - Protected Areas (PAs) and Non-protected Areas (NPAs).
- PAs majorly cover our National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- A "Tiger Reserve" is a status given to any PA considering the feasibility of survival of tigers over there. As such, a tiger reserve may consist of a National Park, or a Wildlife Sanctuary, or both - Pench Tiger Reserve being a good example.
- NPAs are typically small, fragmented patches of forests surrounded by farm land, villages, small towns, roads, railway lines etc.
- Though a large of portion of our wildlife enjoys the benefits of PAs, it is worth noting that a considerable number of animals stay outside our PAs.
- Our Tiger Reserves (PAs) enjoy great protection with thorough monitoring of wildlife, and protection teams like the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF).
- The non-protected areas, even though they are tiger bearing, have little protection.
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*(III) A LITTLE ABOUT ANIMAL MOVEMENT -
- Many of the animals regularly migrate from one place to the other - be it a long-distance migration, or local migration.
- As discussed in the first section, sub-adult tigers typically move out of their birth territory in search of establishing their own turf.
- Such movement of tigers include movement from one PA to the other PA or from within a PA to a NPA.
- When a tiger moves from a PA to another PA, it has to pass through a human dominated landscape, thus getting it closer to humans.
- When a tiger moves out of a PA to a NPA, it puts itself close to humans.
- Tigers who are born in the NPAs itself are closer to humans from the beginning.
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*(IV) WHEN DOES A TIGER BECOME A MAN-EATER –
- This is a subject of complete separate discussion, but I will try to talk a little.
- FIRST AND FOREMOST – there is a huge difference between when a tiger KILLS a human and when a tiger EATS a human.
- Killing of humans by a tiger can be out of self-protection. We have a problem when the tiger starts to eat the human flesh.
- As per guidelines, to label a tiger as a man-eater, it should be established in at the least three cases that beyond reasonable doubt, the particular tiger is the culprit of killing and eating humans.
- A man is not the natural prey of the tiger. Just like our mothers tell us what is edible, a tigress teaches the cubs what to eat, and humans are not on that list.
- A tiger may start eating human flesh either because old-age would not let it kill the natural prey, or because it first kills a human for self-defense and accidently eats the flesh, thus getting to know that it is edible. But again, it is very very difficult to know HOW a tiger becomes a man-eater.
- However, it can be said with some confidence that if a tigress is used to hunting and eating humans, it is likely that her cubs will also follow the same route.
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*(V) PRESENT CASE OF T1 a.k.a. AVANI –
- A huge chunk of her territory is covered with small villages, farm lands etc.
- Her first human kill was in 2016, and since then, she had killed 12 more humans.
- At present, she was a mother to two 10 months old cubs.
- Forest Department was working towards mitigating this human-animal conflict and spreading awareness among villagers about do’s and don’ts about living in a tiger dominated landscape.
- It was after she made 3 humans kills in a row that order to capture her or to shoot her were put in force by the PCCF.
- The said order was challenged by activists in Supreme Court and the Supreme Court, considering the situation on the field, upheld the PCCF’s orders.
- The orders were to either tranquilize and capture the tigress alive, or to shoot her down. The efforts of the search team were in the said direction, and if the tranquilizing could not be achieved, she was destined to meet the unfortunate end.
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*(VI) WHY IT WAS PERTINENT TO MOVE HER OUT OF THE LANDSCAPE –
- As people living in urban areas, it is very difficult for us to imagine a life in a wildlife dominated landscape. A few people in Mumbai can imagine how it must feel like to have a leopard come into your society at night and take away the dogs as their prey.
- Communities who live in a wildlife dominated area are typically exposed to crop raids by herbivores, cattle killing by carnivores, and at times, even human killings by carnivores.
- It is very hard for us to imagine the loss of money, and loss of life they must be facing. Irrespective of such losses, their acceptance towards the presence of wildlife is remarkable.
- Forest Department has a key role in maintaining this acceptance of communities towards wildlife. They compensate the villagers for loss of crops, loss of cattle, and loss of human life.
- As such, the animals can stay in peace because the local communities are tolerant towards them. NO CONSERVATION ACTIVITY CAN BE A SUCCESS WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF THE NATIVE COMMUNITIES.
- If T1, after 13 human kills, was allowed to stay in that landscape, we would have lost the confidence of the locals, thus putting all our future conservation activities in danger.
- We have to save the tigers as a species and not one particular tiger who was convicted as a man-eater.
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*(VII) THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM –
- T1 is a representative example of the real problem here – we are losing our forest cover real fast, and it is not a good sign.
- Tiger sits at the top of food chain, and thus, is an indicator of a healthy ecosystem. If we lose our forest cover, we are destroying the habitat for our wildlife, making the animals get closer to humans, thus increasing the chances of a conflict.
- Movement of animals should be safe and without any disturbance. Such movement is critical for exchange of gene pool to ensure long term survival of the species.
- In order to make this movement safe, we have to establish and maintain GREEN CORRIDORS between the forests.
- Development is necessary, but it should be sustainable, and not at the cost of nature, for there cannot be human survival without our jungles.
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*(VIII) KILLING OF T1 UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES AND POLITICISING THE DEATH –
- Yes, she could have been tranquilized and kept in captivity for the remainder of her life. However, the current search operation was already in its 8th month and a considerable amount of resources were spent in searching her. As such, shooting her down, if the circumstances are such, was very much on the table.
- It is alleged that the way in which she was killed was suspicious, and that she could have been tranquilized instead. If this is the case, the post mortem report will suggest so and necessary actions should be taken on the people involved.
- Many are trying to blame the authorities for the killing. It is difficult to understand this view point when our Forest Department works sincerely and with all their might to save our tigers. Had the circumstances not forced them, they would not have wanted the death orders on the table.
- Some are trying to link this death for politically blaming the ruling party. I completely agree that this not a really good government when it comes to environment. They have allowed destruction of key landscapes for projects like railway line through Melghat, road widening through the Kanha-Pench corridor, Ket-Betwa river linking etc. However, it is hard to imagine them taking particularly keen interest in this single tigress, when there are other tigers too in the same landscape.
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*(IX) SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM – THE BIGGEST PROBLEM EVER –
- People on social media have come out to support the “Save Avani” campaign like crazy. There are posters, videos, posts, petitions all over.
- How many of them have a tiger or a leopard lurking around in their backyard?
How many of them have lost their crops to animals?
How many of them have lost their cattle to animals?
How many of them have a family member killed by a tiger?
It is very easy to post/like/comment/sign a petition from the comforts of our homes, but how many of them know what the ground realities are?
How many of them know about the anger of villagers the Forest Department has to deal with after a human death?
- Man-Animal conflict is a critical issue and requires comprehensive understanding of animal behavior, skills to manage people and their sentiments, and at the same time, take decisions that are best for the wildlife in long term – no matter how harsh they may sound right now.
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It is not difficult to understand the real issue and the complications involved. I do not have an academic background in conservation, and yet I am able to apply logic and make an informed decision.
I sincerely request you all that the next time you come across such an issue, rather than blindly trusting what you are reading, please try and analyze the entire subject. It is much much more complicated than it may look. Make an informed decision.
Saving our wildlife is not just government’s task. It is a collective responsibility of all of us.
Get your mind out of your safari vehicle and get your eyes away from the viewfinder of your camera – conservation is much bigger than going on safaris and clicking pictures of tigers.
Saving our jungles is critical for our own survival. Let us work towards that.

- Paresh
4th November 2018

(Tagging those people herewith who I feel can be relevant. Please feel free to un-tag yourself if you do not wish to be tagged.)

Update to the original post - 5th November 2018
After reading many opinions about this issue, I feel that there is a need to post an update to the original post. I sincerely request every person who has liked/commented/shared this original post to read the update as well, and those who have shared the original post - do copy+paste the update in comments of your shared posts.
So here it goes -

UPDATE 1 TO THE ORIGINAL POST - 5TH NOVEMBER 2018

(A) TRANQUILIZING vs KILLING -
- There is absolutely no debate when it comes to this argument. She should have been tranquilized and kept in captivity instead of killing. However, things are much easier said than done.
- A few points which I have discovered in this regard are that the landscape in the problem area does not have a lot of strong trees. Most of the vegetation is shrubs and small trees, thus making it difficult to build machans to sit-out and wait for the tigress to move or come close to a bait so that she can be shot with a tranquilizing dart. Further, it is a rocky landscape which makes it difficult to track the pugmarks as compared to a sandy landscape.
- Considering all of this, I am sure that Forest Department had tranquilizing as their primary approach, but again, it is very difficult to understand the field realities and problems while sitting here.
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(B) CLAIMS OF KILLING UNDER SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES -
- If that is indeed the case, an investigation should be made and necessary action should be taken against those responsible.
- I am not sure why the FD had to go with the shooters from Hyderabad and why they had no other options for the task. However, there are claims that the person who executed the killing did not have the authority to do so. In this regard, a person has shared photos of orders of the CCF of that area in which names of members of Shafat Ali Khan's team are mentioned. That list bears the name of his son along with a few others.
- A laughable claim is that the tigress was killed to satisfy the blood thirst of the appointed shooter. In this regard, please note that the Forest Department is a honorable body that works beyond limits to protect our jungles and wildlife. They are not someone with who some shooter can toy with. Experience the field work with them, try and interact with them and then you shall know. The shooters were under the strict orders from FD and they were obliged to follow them.
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(C) CLAIMS ABOUT THE LAND BEING DIVERTED FOR MINING -
- It widely talked that 467 hectares of land has been acquired by Reliance Cement Company Private Limited (RCCPL) to set up a cement plant. Please note that the initial clearances for acquisition of this land were given back in 2012. RCCPL, along with its existing projects in UP and MH, was taken over by Birla Corporation Limited (BCL) in August 2016. BCL declared in August 2018 that they are going to set-up a new plant in the said 467 hectares land.
- The said 467 hectares of land is located around Mukutban.
- Mukutban is situated at an distance of over 80 km (road distance) from the current conflict area of T1 (which was area around Ralegaon - for those of you who do not know that.) Though, this area is close to Tipeshwar WLS, it is not that close to the current problem zone. - Further, 467 hectares are around 4.70 square kilometers. The said territory of T1 was over 120 square kilometers. (Please note that in no way here it is suggested that the it is ok to let go a few square kilometers of forest. Every inch is critical. I am just trying show a relative picture here.)
- It seems a long shot that all this mess was created by the government just so that this particular cement project could begin for which land was already transferred and initial clearances were already given as long ago as 2012!
- I am not saying that the current government is very clean when it comes to environment. Please refer to point (VIII) in the original post. All I am saying that linking the RCCPL cement plant to T1 conflict seems like a long shot.
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(D) WHAT IS WITH ALL THE EMOTIONAL DRAMA?
- I have seen countless posters, videos, texts with emotional messages regarding the action taken.
- I can understand that one may feel sorry for the way things turned out to be. Even I am saddened that the tigress had to be shot instead of being captured alive. But we have to understand that overspread of direction-less emotions can be a great fuel for wrong messages, rumours, and ill-informed opinions.
- We do not want unnecessary expression of direction-less emotions. We want people to be emotional, but still have the ability to see things through for what they are. THAT will lead to though-driven action. Emotional drama will not achieve anything.
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(E) VERY IMPORTANT - THE PURPOSE OF THE ORIGINAL POST
- The purpose of the original post was to make it a point that none of us urban dwellers, including myself, can imagine -
(a) co-existing with wildlife in a wildlife dominated landscape, and,
(b) the field situations faced by the forest department.
- Please note with all your attention that the people who do live along with tigers or leopard or elephants or rhinos in their backyards, are far far more accommodative to wild animals than any of ever can be! The jungle stands because of them, and the jungle falls because of our needs. Their support is critical to any conservation activity. Please think of that the next time you come across such an issue.
- Further, please understand that it is not an easy task to maintain a jungle, to walk 10 km a day to patrol, to deal with fishing mafias, to deal with poachers who come with SMGs in their hands. It is very easy to say that "If she can be shot with a bullet, the she could be shot with a tranquilizing dart" but the ground realities can very well be different.
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Kindly consider the above points as well in forming your opinion. I am going to post all of this in the original post as well

[srishiva]

@JayKis. Thanks. I think there should be a probe to find out if they ever tried to tranquilize or it was a cover up. Maybe then someone should be penalised if there was something wrong in the whole process. I think the people who lost their lives and how it could have impacted families should be considered before getting emotional about this.

The problems are very complicated owing to forest destruction through greed, corruption and also genuine resource shortcome for the growing population.

[Samurai]

Thanks JayKris for sharing Paresh Deshmukh's post. I am always wary of social media campaigns about rural/forest issues, knowing it is usually based on emotions and not facts. I grew up around forests and farms until my teens, so I know that city dwellers know next to nothing about forests. But most of the social media outrage comes from the cities.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by JayKis

This is what one of my friends (Paresh Deshmukh), an avid traveller and tiger watcher, had to say on this issue.

Very nice, informative, balanced and sensible post.

For these very reasons, it will not become popular with mass media

Thanks for sharing this, it made it very clear about the various nuances involved.

I'm quite surprised at the criticism the forest dept. have received. My limited interactions with them (and hearsay from others) with those around the Nilgiris have given me the impression that they are sincere, often have a thankless job, and are often underequipped to deal with the job at hand. They get my respect because they're yet another set of men in kakhi who work hard against the odds. I'm sure there are bad apples there, but no more (and arguably less) than any other area of government.

[Kosfactor]

The undeniable fact now is that forests need to be scientifically maintained!

Habitat destruction has already gone over the tipping point.
unless large unbroken stretches of forests are maintained there is no way forests can sustain themselves.

Apex predators are territorial and territories are large, If a tiger is unable to maintain it's territory, it will be forced to come out of the forest.

Avni is a nice name, humanizing the tiger has given it much needed sympathy however that tiger has no place outside the forest and must be rehabilitated for its own safety . What else is Save Tiger campaign is for? They had the time, the equipment, trained officers , funds and yet here we are.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks JayKris for sharing Paresh Deshmukh's post. I am always wary of social media campaigns about rural/forest issues, knowing it is usually based on emotions and not facts. I grew up around forests and farms until my teens, so I know that city dwellers know next to nothing about forests. But most of the social media outrage comes from the cities.

Spot on. Thanks to FB warriors and 'Influencers', Elephant conservation and anti poaching efforts have taken a big hit. Rich big game hunters in organized hunting trips were a big funding aid to anti poaching teams in Africa. Due to FB hounding, and social media nutjobs, now people are backing out, and the result is devastating to African wildlife.

i wonder how many of these insta clowners will actually pay money to fund anti poaching squads.