Man-Eating Tigress Avani That Killed 13 People in 2 Years Shot Dead in Maharashtra, Locals Celebrate

Mumbai: A man-eating tigress named Avni who is believed to have been responsible for 13 deaths in Maharashtra was reportedly killed in the state’s Yavatmal region on Friday night, ANI reported.

The Supreme Court had earlier this year issued ‘shoot at sight’ orders against the tigress, officially called T1, and dismissed appeals by animal rights activists to capture her alive instead.

Locals on Saturday reportedly celebrated the animal’s killing by distributing sweets.

The hunt for the tigress began after she was reported to have killed five villagers in the past year. Officials suspect she may also have been responsible for another eight deaths stretching back to 2016.

More than 9,000 people had signed a petition on Change.org calling for the tigress to be captured alive rather than killed.

Tigers do not generally attack humans, but some experts believe they can get a taste for human flesh if they have attacked once.

India is home to more than half of the world's tiger population with some 2,226 of the animals roaming its reserves, according to the count in 2014.

Dozens die every year, sometimes at the hands of poachers, while reports of man-animal conflict are not uncommon. Wildlife activists say they occur when humans encroach into tiger corridors.

In October 2016 armed forest guards shot dead a man-eating tiger in northern India.

It was blamed for killing three villagers, including a woman outside Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand state. Villagers celebrated by parading with the dead animal's carcass for nearly three hours.