Hyderabadis protest the ‘illegal’ killing of tigress Avni

Over 20 citizens and

animal rights

activist held a candlelight vigil to protest the killing of T-1 tigress,

Avni

at the KBR Park on Sunday. Holding placards and hoardings brandishing slogans such as ‘India roars for Avni’ and ‘Shame on government for killing Avni’, the protesters vowed to put pressure on the government to stop such ‘tragic incidents for vested interests’.

“We need to stop the killing of tigers. Avni was branded a man-eater and killed without substantial evidence. We also read that a tranquillizer dart was put on her dead body to substantiate the hunters’ claim that they shot the tigress only after the tranquilising efforts failed,” says Lakshmi Vishwanathan, a volunteer of an animal rights organisation.

The protestors also held discussions to spread awareness about animal rights and condemned the killing saying it happened due to ‘the government’s corporate interest’. “Many animal rights activists have been protesting against the operation from the past one month, but the forest ministry didn’t pay any heed to it. This happened because they were in a hurry to give around 500 acres of forest land in Maharastra’s

Yavatmal district

to a cement industry to extract the

limestone

deposits present in the area,” alleged Abhishek Dubey, another volunteer.

Avni, the five-year-old tigress,who was the mother of two nine-month-old cubs, was shot in cold blood in Maharashtra by controversial Hyderabadi hunter Shafat Ali’s son, Asghar Ali on the night of November 2.