Authorities shot and killed a man-eating tiger on Nov. 2 that terrorized a jungle area in India that was linked to the killings of 13 people.
The female tiger, called T-1 by forest rangers, was blamed for the killings of more than a dozen villagers in Maharashtra, said the Maharashtra Forest Department on Nov. 3.
Hunters waited for several hours before identifying the tiger and shooting her with a tranquilizer dart, the officials said. After she was hit with the dart, the tiger charged the vehicle, and a hunter fired a lethal shot at the animal, killing it.
Officials had hoped to take the animal alive as it had two 10-month-old cubs. The Supreme Court of India refused to suspend a shoot-on-sight order for the tiger that triggered protests and online petitions.
Wildlife activists complained online over the weekend after the big cat was killed, DPA reported. They said rangers could have captured it instead of killing it.
“Avni [a local name for the tiger] was killed illegally satisfying a hunter’s lust for blood,” said People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to DPA. It said the killing should be “investigated and treated as a wildlife crime.”
But the tiger was linked to at least 13 killings in the area, the Times reported. DNA tests taken from tiger’s saliva and DNA from the corpses, images from camera traps, tiger tracks, and a number of sightings connected the animal to the deaths.
Man Gets Dangerously Close to Zoo Tiger
A man was filmed jumping over a barrier near a tiger cage at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, California, in October.The tiger was seen prowling near the outer edge of its cage at the zoo as the man stood outside the fence (as seen in the top video).
“You cannot design for irresponsible and stupid behavior,” concluded Parrott.