Collarwali tigress

The Collarwali tigress in Pench Tiger Reserve of India recently died. It died because of age. The last rites were conducted by the Forest Department of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The tigress died at the age of 16.

About the Collarwali tigress

• The Collarwali tigress was born in 2005. She played an important role to increase the tiger population in the Pench Tiger Reserve. She gave birth to 29 cubs in her life time. It is a world record! Of these 29 pubs, 25 survived.
• In 2005, Collarwali tigress gave birth to three pubs. They did not survive.
• In 2018, she gave birth to four cubs. This was the last time she delivered pubs.
• In 2010, she gave birth to five pubs. Tigresses giving birth to more than three or four pubs are very rare. For this reason, she was called “Supermum”. She was also called “mataram” or respected mother.

Name reason

The tigress wore a collar. The collars are worn to tigers to monitor their movement in the jungle. She is the first tigress to receive a collar in the Pench Tiger Reserve. Usually, the collars are worn when the tigers are brought from different habitat and introduced in a new forest area. However, the collarwali tigress belonged to the Pench Tiger Reserve and was not brought from other habitats.

Spy in the Jungle

The tigress earned popularity after its was featured in a BBC documentary called “Spy in the jungle”. After this documentary, she became one of the best known tigers of India. The documentary tracked the life of four of her cubs for two years. The visitors to the tiger reserve increased mainly because of her popularity.

Significance

The tiger reserves were started to conserve the national animal of the country. However, today these tiger reserves are attracting tourists and improving tourism in the country. According to the latest report of Government of India, 70% of the world tigers are in the country. The numbers are around three thousand. Thousands of tourists are swarming these tiger reserves every year to get a glimpse of the big cat.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2022

Category: Environment Current Affairs