A hunter’s initiative to save wildlife

Ace wildlife shooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan has started an NGO, the first of its kind in the country, to save wildlife. The NGO, Wildlife Tranqui Force, is a registered body and recognised and licensed by the Forest Department Act

Lata Jain

“A young female tigress caught in a backyard was shot and killed, causing panic in a neighbourhood”, remembers Nawab Shafat Ali Khan. “If the forest officers had access to a tranquiliser gun, they could have peacefully restrained the animal until wildlife rehabilitators arrived to safely transport the tigress.” Shafat added. He says that officers should make it a habit to use a potent gun to tranquilise an animal and transport it elsewhere, alive, instead of killing it after it attacks a human being.

Ace wildlife shooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan has started an NGO, the first of its kind in the country, to save wildlife. The NGO, Wildlife Tranqui Force, is a registered body and recognised and licensed by the Forest Department Act. “I thought of conserving wildlife along with an ace shooter, who is invited by governments of various cities which is an act praiseworthy,” says Hitesh Malhotra, IFS, (Retd), chief conservator of forest, Andhra Pradesh. "Legislation should be there to protect the animals from the people and to protect the people from the animals," he said. This NGO would take care of both.

Bad weather, unpredictable wild animals, and a need for precision with tranquilisers, the risk is too great. In order to tranquilise an animal safely, many factors need to be considered. The weight, age, and the type of animal-all must be taken into consideration. Provided that all the factors are right, the animals need to be shot in the right muscles for the drugs to take effect.

Time is also a big factor. If all that stands between a person and a wild animal is a tranquiliser, the outlook is grim. It takes about 15 minutes for the drug to knock an animal out and those 15 minutes are chilling, with a frenzied animal that has just been shot. This was the case between one of the vets Dr Ganesh Kumar of the Bihar cadre. After shooting a tiger with a tranquiliser, the animal charged him and the only way to he could save his life was to put down the tiger. Even when not cornered, that 15 minute window can be worrisome. “In the dark, the chances of losing the animal after it is shot is incredibly high. If we did manage to find the animal when it is sedated, we would run the risk the animal waking up during transit and killing the travellers“, says Dr Naveen, Retd Deputy Director, Nehru Zoological Park, who is the treasurer of the NGO.

The first of its kind in India, a chronograph computer has been purchased by the Nawab to bring in accuracy in tranquilising. There was a demonstration of the darts and medicines used for tranquilising. Xylazine and Ketamine which are muscle relaxant and CNS depressant are used as tranquillisers, explained Dr Naveen. Both are very expensive and the right dose is a must. These drugs are imported and need a license. The man eater or wild animal remains immobile for two hours because of the effect of these tranquilisers. One usually administers these drugs via a dart, at least in the field zoos. There are various dart systems, which each have advantages and disadvantages. Telenject/Daninject and Pneudarts are common systems.

Shanker Rao, Curator, Nehru Zoological Park expressed his happiness inaugurating the NGO. Rashid Khan, Vice President, gave away the vote of thanks remembering Jim Corbett.