‘Collarwali’, the famous tigress of Madhya Pradesh’s Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), who had earned the tag of ‘supermom’ for giving birth to 29 cubs, died on Saturday evening. Collarwali (T-15 tigress) died due to old age at Pench Reserve in Seoni district. She was the eldest tigress amongst tigers in Madhya Pradesh and lived with record age of 16.5 years. The carcass was found by the forest officials at compartment number 589 at Kumbhadev Beat of Karmajhiri Circle under PTR. She had given birth to 29 cubs in eight litters during the span of 11 years - between 2008 and 2018, and gave a new identity to PTR and Madhya Pradesh around the world. T-15 was born to another famous tigress ‘Badi Maada’ in September 2005. T-15, who looked very weak due to old age, was last seen on January 14 by the PTR visitors. According to experts, the average age of a tiger is about 12 years.

 

She was radio-collared in March 2008. After that, radio collar stopped functioning. She was again radio-collared in January 2010. The tigress later became famous as ‘Collarwali’ or T-15 tigress, the officials said. The park administration is optimistic that its litter known as ‘Patdev Baghin’ T-4 tigress, who delivered 5 cubs till now, will definitely continue the legacy of ‘Badi Maada’ and ‘Collarwali Baghin’. Field Director of Pench Tiger Reserve Ashok Kumar Mishra, while talking to ‘The Hitavada’, said that a dedicated team was monitoring activities of T-15 due to its old age and unfortunately found her dead on Saturday evening.

 

Veterinarian Dr Akhilesh Mishra of Pench Tiger Reserve and Dr Amol Rokde of School of Wildlife and Forensics Health, Jabalpur, conducted autopsy of the carcass on Sunday morning. The tigress was cremated as per standard operating procedure (SOP) of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on Sunday. Viscera and organs were preserved for laboratory analysis. Field Director Ashok Mishra, Deputy Director Adhar Gupta, Assistant Conservator of Forest B P Tiwari, Circle Officer, Ashish Khobragade, NTCA representative, Vikrant Jathar, Rajesh Bhendarkar, Jila Panchayat member Ramgopal Jaiswal, registered guides and resort workers paid tributes to ‘Collarwali Baghin’. ‘Collarwali’ had continued the tradition of her mother ‘Badi Maada’. It delivered 3 cubs in first litter in May 2008, 4 cubs in second litter in October 2008, 5 cubs in third litter in October 2010, 3 cubs in fourth litter in May 2012, 3 cubs in fifth litter in October 2013, 4 cubs in sixth litter in April 2015, 3 cubs in seventh litter in 2017 and 4 cubs in eighth litter in December 2018.