https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

The ‘Supermom’ Passes Away… Into Record Books

T-15 aka Collarwali had sired 29 cubs in eight litters, 25 of whom survived, earning her the title ‘Supermom’. She died a natural death and was cremated by Madhya Pradesh’s Pench Tiger Reserve officials on January 15. Social Media was flooded with tributes to the tigress.
Indian Masterminds Stories

She looked majestic even in her death. She was cremated with a lot of emotions. Her cremation was attended physically by over a hundred people and virtually by lakhs. Short of a gun salute and a tri-color, it was a state funeral. After all, T-15 commonly known as Collarwali was a tigress that ruled a part of Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh like a queen. BBC had made a documentary ‘Spy in the Jungle’ on her life and times. The social media was flooded with tribute messages for her. Because by the time she died, she had sired 29 offsprings in eight litters, a world record for a tigress, earning her the sobriquet ‘Supermom’. 

Someone even posted a video said to be of the last hours before her death. The accompanying message described her last moments. “SHE CAME to the stream and was so weak that she could barely walk. She lay down near the water and did not move for two hours, with only her ears twitching. At that point, there were 42 vehicles inside Pench, and all of them spotted her.”

Within hours of this, forest officials reached the site, closed the roads, and took her in for treatment. The next evening, around 6.15 pm, the first-ever tigress to be collared at Pench breathed her last. Indian Masterminds spoke to a number of wildlife officials and scientists to find out why Collarwali was so popular among wildlife enthusiasts. 

Mr. Ashok Kumar Mishra, Field Director, Pench Tiger Reserve, said the post mortem revealed the cause of death as multiple organ failure due to intestine blockage resulting from old age. “Her intestine was blocked with mud and hair,” he said. Her popularity was next only to T-16 also called Machhli, the Queen of Rajasthan’s Ranthambhor Tiger Reserve, who also passed away a couple of years ago due to old age.

Collarwali with her cubs

Dr. Aniruddha Majumdar, a scientist with the State Forest Research Institute, who tracked Collarwali for seven years to study breeding and cub-raising among tigers, described her as “the pride of entire Madhya Pradesh”.

According to officials, T-15 was born on September 22, 2005, to T-1, also known as “Charger”, and T-7 or “Badi Mata”, another famous tigress of Pench. She was the firstborn of four cubs, and all of them were featured, along with the mother, in the documentary. Collarwali dominated the prey-rich area of the reserve and held the distinguished record of giving birth to five cubs in a litter in October 2010. It is rare for a tigress to give birth to five cubs at one go. 

The popular tigress, which was fitted with the radio collar by experts from Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, in March 2008, was a prime attraction in the 2010 BBC Earth documentary ‘Tiger-Spy in The Jungle.’

In 2008, when Panna Tiger Reserve in MP became tiger-less, it was one of the female cubs of Collarwali only, which was sent to Panna for reviving the big cat’s population there.

Elaborating, Pench Tiger Reserve Field Director Subranjan Sen points out that while T15 would need to hunt largely for herself — approximately a cheetal a week — till the cubs are about three months old, as they grow, her job would become harder. By the time the four cubs are 1.5 years old, Sen says, T15 would need to kill one or even two cheetals a day. No mean feat for a 12-year-old.

Wildlife scientist Ulhas Karanth, who has spent over three decades monitoring tigers, says, “A tigress acquires a territory around three years of age, holds it for 8-10 years. She raises three-four litters (say, 12-16 cubs) to a dispersal age of 18 months, that is, one litter every three years. And she lives to 10-14 years.”

There are other tigresses known for their many litters, including as many as six. Mai, the grand old tigress of Maharashtra’s Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve, had six before she died last year at the age of 17 in a fight with a gaur, mothering about 12 cubs. Jai, whose marathon 120-km walk from Navegaon-Nagzira to Umred-Karhandla for a mate, was one of the two cubs from Mai’s last litter. Chandi, a 10-year-old matriarch of Umred-Karhandla, is expecting her sixth litter any time now. So far, she has mothered 18 cubs, but not all have survived.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
Devendra Kumar Tiwari Alka Tiwari  IAS Jharkhand
First IAS Couple in India to Hold Both Chief Secretary & State Election Commissioner Posts Consecutively - Know This Powerful Pair
Policing, Trust, and Investment: Insights from IPF - Indian Masterminds
Indian Police Foundation Marks 10 Years, Discussion on How Policing Builds Investor Confidence
Madhya Pradesh football training
Mini Brazil to Germany: Vicharpur’s Young Footballers Get CM Mohan Yadav’s Blessings on Vijayadashami Week
bureaucracy news
Centre Announces Key Bureaucratic Appointments & Deputation Extensions: Neeraj Surendran, Arun G, Anand Mohan Among Key Names
PM Modi CM Nitish Kumar
Bihar Receives Rs. 10,219 Crore from Centre: A Festive Gift On Vijayadashami to Fuel Development & Welfare, Backed by GST Reforms
Chhattisgarh government
Chhattisgarh CM Charts Development Roadmap: Push for Capital Expenditure, Biometric Attendance, & Transparent Governance
Vishnu Deo Sai CM
Chhattisgarh Gets Rs. 3,462 Crore Boost from Modi Government: Here's How CM Sai Pledges To Spend It!
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Ravikant Meena on IFS Preparation, Optionals, and Life in Forest Service
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
How Siddhartha Saxena Cracked UPSC CAPF AIR 326 Against All Odds
Dr. S.K
Technology Meets Ecology: IFS Dr S K Srivastava’s Game-Changing Innovations in Forest Management | Eco Warrior Awards 2025 Interview
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Live Interaction
From Cut-off Dates to Coaching & Reforms: UPSC Chairman Ajay Kumar Assures Aspirants of Fairness, Transparency & a Future-Ready UPSC | UPSC@100
A Century of Service: The UPSC’s Landmark Year Begins. Chairman Ajay Kumar on UPSC’s Centennial: “Merit,...
Giriraj Parihar MPPSC 2024
From Constable to Deputy Collector: Giriraj Parihar’s 9-Year MPPSC Journey | Farmer’s Son, Brother to Five Sisters
From a jail guard to MPPSC 2024 Rank 8, Giriraj Parihar’s nine-year journey of self-study, hard work,...
Ankit MPPSC 2024 Rank 3
From Village Dreams to Deputy Collector’s Chair: Meet Ankit, MPPSC Rank 3 Hindi Medium Topper
Ankit, a Hindi-medium aspirant from Balaghat, secured Rank 3 in MPPSC 2024 and became Deputy Collector...
Social Media
World Rhino Day India
On World Rhino Day, IFS Officer Parveen Kaswan Shares Rare Insights - India Now Hosts 80% of the World’s One-Horned Rhinos
September 22 Marks Global Call for Rhino Conservation; India Holds 80% of World’s Greater One-Horned...
Parag Madhukar Dhakate
Relentless Rains Wreak Havoc in Dehradun: IFS officer PM Dhakate Warns Citizens Amid Flash Floods
Cloudbursts in Dehradun triggered flash floods. IFS officer Dr. PM Dhakate warned citizens to stay indoors...
Forest Guard Tiger Encounter
Tigers Clash in the Wild as Forest Guards Capture Rare Footage , Retired IFS Mohan Pargaien Posts Viral Video
Retired IFS officer Mohan Pargaien shares viral video of three tigers brawling in Ramnagar, as forest...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
India’s Missile Strikes on 11 Pakistani Airbases Forced Islamabad Into Panic: Ex-UK Envoy Reveals Secret Saudi Defense Pact
Devendra Kumar Tiwari Alka Tiwari  IAS Jharkhand
First IAS Couple in India to Hold Both Chief Secretary & State Election Commissioner Posts Consecutively - Know This Powerful Pair
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
IFS Ravikant Meena UPSC IFS
Siddhartha Saxena UPSC CAPF
Dr. S.K
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT