Mumbai, Feb. 17 -- Rage drove Lakhpat Singh Rawat to his first kill. It was 2001. A leopard, believed to have killed 12 people, mostly children, had created terror in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. The sighting of a big cat in markets, on rooftops and highways is far more common now-it leaves people terrified, but it is not considered unusual. Back then, when the Chamoli man-eater allegedly killed a dozen people, leaving behind mauled bodies, it was very much out of the ordinary. A trained marksman, Rawat possessed a licensed gun and had won the district-level shooting competition. Frequent killings, attributed to the leopard, left him worried for his life and those of his children. "It could attack anyone anywhere at any time. Villagers used to take turns to sleep," says 55-year-old Rawat, district education officer in Garsain town. BIPLOV BHUYAN/HT PHOTO, SHAFATH ALI KHAN. SHAFATH A KHAN, 60 Hyderabad-based Khan believes that his involvement in wildlife operations reflects apathy on the part of the authorities. "There is a vacuum today in terms of understanding the psychology of wild animals. I don't approach the forest department to allow me to participate in any project. I get involved when they ask me," says Khan. LAKHPAT S RAWAT, 55 Rawat is among the most experienced authorised hunters in Uttarakhand. His sons Ajay and Vijay occasionally accompany him. Around two decades ago, when he begun hunting, his family members were worried about him, but they never stopped him. JOY HUKIL, 54 Hukil is a contractor in Pauri, Uttarakhand. He reads books by hunters such as Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson to improve his skills. "Unlike shooters like myself, these greats were into hunting as a sport much before they eliminated a man-eater." PRASHANT SINGH, 47 Singh is a dentist based in Dehradun. He has been conducting workshops in areas affected by the human-animal conflict. Not allowing garbage piles outside residences, checking the growth of wild grass are some of the tips he shares with them....