Collarwali, famed tigress, hurt in territorial fight
The tigress is popularly known as Collarwali for being radio-collared. It is also identified by the forest department as T-15 .
Bhopal: “Collarwali”, the highly fertile tigress of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Madhya Pradesh who has shot into fame for giving birth to 29 cubs in eight litters till December 2018, has been injured in a territorial fight, leaving conservationists worried.
Of the total 29 litters, 25 have survived.
According to a spokesman of PTR, the 14.3-year-old tigress has sustained injury in her body reportedly in a confrontation with cubs of T-20, another tigress in the reserve forest, around three days ago.
“Some PTR officers spotted the injury in the big cat and arranged treatment for her. She has been administered antibiotics and kept under observation for 72 hours,” the spokesman of PTR told this newspaper on Thursday.
The tigress is popularly known as “Collarwali” for being radio-collared. It is also identified by the forest department as “T-15”.
Her last litter, in which she gave birth to quadruplets, was delivered on December 27 2018. Collarwali has been known as excellent mother for being able to rear her cubs so well.
She had littered for the first time in May 2008, when she gave birth to triplets. However, the cubs died of pneumonia within three months due to harsh monsoon. In October 2008, she produced her second litter — quadruplets.
On October 23, 2010, she had her third litter -- quintuplets (five cubs) this time. She is known to let her cubs start hunting on their own early on life, earning the sobriquet of “tiger mom”.