Tiger taken at Nandan Kanan zoo by me
Sometime back, a BBC film crew attached
cameras to elephants to shoot remarkable footage of tigers for its natural history series - Tiger - Spy in the
Jungle, a three-part documentary narrated by Sir David Attenborough, which was about the day-to-day lives of four
cubs in the Pench National Park in central India. The film makers ingenuous plan of fixing cameras
to the tusks and trunks of trained working elephants brought out a new intimacy to the genre.
Back home, the Pench River is a tributary of
the Kanhan River, originating in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh and
flowing across Pench National Park, which is a reserve for the Tiger Project of
India.The two big dams of the Pench River supply water to the city of Nagpur
and to the big thermal power plant located there.The river separates Pench
National Park into two halves, east and west Pench. Pench National Park or
Tiger Reserve is one of the premier tiger reserves of India and the only one to
straddle across two states - Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The portion of the
reserve that is in Madhya Pradesh is nestled in the southern slopes of the
Satpura range of Central India. The reserve derives its name from its life line-the River
Pench. Inside the park, the river flows from North to South before going on to
join the Kanhan River, while splitting the Park into two, and forming the
boundary of Seoni District and Chhindwara District districts of Madhya Pradesh.
The Pench reserve is considered most prime and critical tiger habitat
remaining in central India.
The reserve and more
importantly, a Tiger by name Collarwali is in news ! – TOI states that you
could call her a super mom. `Collarwali', an incredibly fertile tigress at MP's
Pench Tiger Reserve nicknamed by visitors because of her radio collar, has
given birth to four more cubs.This is her seventh litter and she has so far
mothered an amazing 26 cubs -a record for any tigress in Madhya Pradesh. The
latest litter is a boost to the tiger introduction programme in the state that
has lost 35 tigers in the last few months, say wildlife experts. “The patrol
team found four cubs a few weeks ago.They are all very small but in good
health. It's a good sign for our conservation efforts,“ said SubhranjanSen,
field director of the reserve. Sen confirmed that this was Collarwali's seventh
litter.
Referred to as
`Queen of Pench' and `Pench princess', Collarwali was one of the four cubs of
famous tigress `Barimada', who was featured in the famous documentary titled
`Spy in the Jungle' by BBC network. She was also the first of Barimada's cubs
to establish her territory in the core area of her mother's range, experts
said. She was sired by Tiger T-1, also
known as Charger. The tigress littered
three beautiful cubs for the first time in May 2008. But, as an inexperienced
mother, she could not protect them from the harsh climate.All three cubs died
of pneumonia within 24 days, recalls a forest officer.In October 2008, she
produced her second litter ¬ four cubs including three males.All survived.
Experts claim she has used 13 different sites to rear her three litters and
most of the times it was caves.
Thus, the 13-year-old Royal Bengal
tigress has set a record of sorts by begetting 26 cubs since 2008 in Madhya
Pradesh’s Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR),
becoming the cynosure of all eyes as tourists flock in large numbers to
catch a glimpse of the majestic beast.“Royal Bengal Tigress T-15, popularly
known as ‘Collar Wali’ (one with a collar),
was the first tigress to be radio collared in PTR for tracking her
movements, though her radio collar is defunct now.
Interesting. !!
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
10th Apr 2017.
