JOIN USStates want him, but activists loathe him
Nawab Shafath Ali Khan is India’s top shooter. He can outsmart a rogue elephant or a stressed tiger with the traditional knowledge of tracking, which is a dying art. A Nawab by birth, he never collects fee from state governments which request him to eliminate an animal that turned into a killer. He calls himself a hangman, while animal lovers call him a hunter.
The soft-spoken and handsome Khan has recently hunted a rogue elephant in the Taljhari Forest in the Sahibgunj district in Jharkhand. Even before he could get back to his work after returning from Jharkhand, the Chief Conservator of Forests from Uttar Pradesh was on the line, seeking his services to hunt a man-eater tiger.
The man-eater in Pilibhit near Nepal border has so far killed 11 people. Khan said that he has asked the forest department to mail him the animal’s case file, a Google map of the forest and areas where it killed people.
The forest departments invite him only after their attempts fails to chase the animals away from habitations and tranquilise and shift them to new locations. He has been working as a consultant for forest departments of several states from the age of 19. “I was working in Mysore Race Club when an elephant came out of the forest and killed people in 1976. Professional shooters, licence holders were in shortage in the country even at that time,” the 59-year-old said, recalling his first assignment.
Six-footer Khan prefers wearing camouflage fatigues during his shooting. “For instance elephants can recognise whether one is a local or an outsider from a distance of two km. My clothes are washed in a specific way. I don’t use aftershave or toothpaste,” he said, explaining the vital knowledge that saves his life. He is professional to the core and gets cracking on landing for the job. “I will never waste a minute on reaching the forest area. Many a time, forest officials will be at their wits end by the time I reach the spot,” he said in a gentle voice.
A few states like Bihar had even airlifted him from the nearest airport.
“When I land there I ask the forest officials to keep the case file ready. First I try to understand the behaviour of the animal. I study whether it is killing during the night or day,” he said.
He explained that the topography is also important. In Uttar Pradesh a young tiger was attacking people in sugarcane fields as the beast had mistaken them for a forest. The younger ones are chased by strong male tigers in the territorial fights.
When there were no Google maps or satellite images, Khan went by his instincts. The man-eater tiger wears a guilt mark and a specific body language unlike the other big cats that live a contented life in forest. Tiger’s movements can be tracked if the shooter knows its behaviour. However, in case of rogue elephants, forest officers generally provide details on their movements.
He said a hunting assignment could take anywhere between two days to a week. He said that he has been criticised by the animal lovers for hunting the rogue animals. “I ask for a written order by the government to kill the animal. I am a hangman doing what the Supreme Court and section 11 B of Wild Life Protection Act are telling me to do. I study how to kill it painlessly. I have a kind heart for animals,” he said. The Nawab’s son, Asghar Ali Khan, is an authorised shooter and helps the senior Nawab in his assignments. He has written pictorial book “Man-eaters and wildlife challenges.”
Khan grew up in a family of sportsmen. His grandfather Nawab Sultan Ali Khan Bahaddur was the senior most handicapper in horse racing. He was an advisor to the British Government on man-animal conflict. For 25 year years he was an advisor to Burma (now Myanmar) and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Whenever there was man-elephant conflict they would seek his advice. He grew up in an atmosphere where man-animal conflict was a daily discussion at the breakfast table.
Khan had love for forests and wildlife from childhood. It was a way of life. All royal family members would go together to the forest for hunting like it was a family ritual. “I learnt a lot of traditional methods of following wild animals, their psychology and how to approach an animal. Hunting is limited to stressed tigers which have come out of their habitat or a rogue elephant which has killed 10 people,” Khan said.
He said the Jharkhand government has agreed to his suggestion to set up a rescue centre for elephants. He will be soon going to Jharkhand to carry forward the proposal.
With the passing of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972, hunting was banned in India and the entire nobility gave up their hobby. Along with hunting, trackers who were there for generations also lost their jobs. When privy purse was abolished, the nobility crumbled. “The nobility indulged in hunting and protecting the forests. Forests were protected with a vested interest, because the ruler was a hunter. In that protected forests tigers and elephants survived,” he said.
After independence, wildlife conservation suddenly changed hands from the royalty to forest department giving rise to corruption and cutting of trees. As per 1947 records there were 20,000 tigers. In 1972 hunting was banned and the numbers further came down to 2,000 in the 1980s after the launch of Project Tiger. “So by banning hunting tiger numbers fell, it’s a paradox. In Africa wherever they have controlled hunting, wildlife has flourished. Because there is a code for hunting--you don’t hunt females, young ones and you only hunt the adult male, which is beyond breeding age,” he explained.
In 1980, India had 15,700 elephants and the numbers increased to 32,000 as the forests shrunk. On the other hand human population doubled in the same period. “When we are managing wildlife, it is our paramount duty that we create its habitat first. Every tiger needs its territory and a certain base prey. A tiger make a kill every week. If we have 3,000 tigers now in India we must have 1,56,000 animals as prey. When our policy makers made their plans they never considered this aspect,” the sharp shooter said.
“Policies are made by those who never left their air-conditioned rooms. They must go to the field to understand the carrying capacity of the forest, how many animals can stay there, what is the man to animal ratio, how much forest is needed for an elephant. For instance an alpha male tiger requires 35 sqkm of forest.”
Khan is training forest officers and conducting workshops for veterinarians. He started an NGO called Wild Life Tranqui Force to fill the gap, to impart training.
“I have dedicated my life to this, and I don’t charge the forest department for my services. God has given everything but I slog and sweat. I walk miles with heavy 458 Winchester Magnum rifle. The forest department have 7.62 and .303 guns suitable to shoot only humans. Shooting a 5-tonne elephant or a 200-kg tiger with that gun means that you just irritate it more,” he said.