Thiruvananthapuram: Activists protest killing of tigress Avani

Thiruvananthapuram: When animal lovers across the country were planning to launch a nationwide campaign in favour of six-year-old Avani, the man-eater tigr-ess, on November 11, the authorities shot it dead. 

Animal lovers in Thiruvananthapuram were also doing preparations to hold a campaign, #SaveAvani at Kanakak-unnu grounds. Avani was shot dead by forest officials in Maharashtra on Friday defying the Supreme Court orders which had demanded that she should be “tranquilized and captured”. 

Animal lovers across the country had formed various groups in social media to save Avani. It was alleged by the animal lovers in Thiruvananth-apuram that a top industrial group which was expanding a cement factory near to the Pandh-arkawada divisional forest in Maharashtra was keen to see the forest being encroached.

 Avani had allegedly killed 13 people when DNA samples actually revealed that she had killed only one person. Dr. Jacob Alexander, senior veterinarian at the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo told DC that scores of animal lovers in the capital city including ‘People for Animals’ and ‘Hands for Paws’ were expected to converge at Kanakak-unnu on November. 11.

“It was such a bad day for me where I have cursed myself. More than the two surviving 10 month old cubs future, I am worried about the message Avani is leaving behind. The environment destruction by the MNC’s is deplorable. It is interesting to note how animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi and PETA are co-nspicuous by their silence on  it”, he said.