India says goodbye to tiger ‘supermum’ Collarwali that ‘kept forest alive’
- The popular big cat, that gave birth to nearly 30 cubs, died peacefully at the weekend after an intestinal problem
- Collarwali’s body was sombrely carried onto a funeral pyre garlanded with flowers for her ritual cremation
Indian animal lovers are in mourning over the sudden passing of a nationally famous tigress credited with repopulating a forest redoubt for her endangered kin.
Collarwali, dubbed “supermum” by local press for giving birth to nearly 30 cubs, died peacefully at the weekend after an intestinal problem.
Sombre conservation officers gently carried Collarwali’s body onto a funeral pyre garlanded with flowers for her ritual cremation.
“The tigress was very popular at the reserve and with the local community,” Alok Mishra, field director of the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh state, said. “Everyone knew about her.”
Collarwali earned her celebrity following for rejuvenating the local tiger population, and drew visitors from across India to the reserve, in an area purported to be the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s famed Jungle Book anthology.
Of the 29 cubs she gave birth to over her lifetime, 25 survived to adulthood.
Her peculiar name – “With Collar” in English – came from a research project conducted in the nature park in her infancy.