Udaipur,  October 3, 2024 - Sharp-shooter Shafat Ali Khan has been roped in to capture - dead or alive - the man-eater leopard, that has caused panic in Udaipur. This was after a search operation by the Forest Department and the Army to catch the animal failed after weeks of intense combing of the forests in the areas. The leopard has been responsible for fatal attacks on eight people in Gogunda and nearby areas of Udaipur.

While the Udaipur authorities are very hopeful of a positive conclusion with the arrival of the sharp-shooter on the scene, it would be interesting to know who Shafat Ali Khan is.

The marksman, who is in his mid-60s hails from Hyderabad and grew up in an aristocratic Nawab family. His grandfather, Nawab Sultan Ali Khan Bahadur, was a hunter and an advisor on wildlife to the British administration in those days. So, it is not at all surprising that Khan grew up in a household where stories of shikar and wildlife were a part of everyday conversation.

When he was only 19, he successfully took down a rogue elephant in Mysore in 1976 after the Forest Department enlisted him to eliminate the animal that had killed 12 people. After this feat, Khan shot to fame and eventually became a wildlife expert with four decades of tracking and eliminating wild boars, rogue elephants and man-eater tigers and leopards. The services of the shooter have been sought by several state governments to eliminate man-eating wild animals. Throughout his career, he has completed more than 40 risky operations and also advises the forest departments of multiple states.

According to him, the weapons used by foresters are .303 rifle or self-loading rifles which are meant for use against an average human being with a weight of 60 kgs. He uses a .458 magnum rifle and a .470 double-barrel rifle. Khan says to eliminate a rampaging tiger or a rogue elephant that is most likely to charge at you, special hunting rifles are needed.

The sharp-shooter says his role is highly specialised, involving the accurate identification of animals and the attempt to capture them alive. He has, in the past, been accused by NGOs of unnecessary killing of the animals but he has denied this accusation saying he resorts to fatal means only when absolutely necessary. And, he says that he is doing it to save human lives when forced to shoot the animal if no other means is possible because the animal is causing loss to human lives.

Khan now lives in the Madumalai National Park in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu. His son Asghar Ali Khan is a sharp-shooter, too.

Source: Media Reports