Collarwali: India pays tribute to ‘supermom’ tigress credited with saving an entire national park
Popularly known as collarwali, a tigress who gave birth to 29 cubs has died in Madhya Pradesh's Pench Tiger Reserve. She was given farewell by locals, forest officials and security personnel
India's most famous tigress, known as "Supermom" for giving birth to 29 cubs during her lifetime, has died, triggering widespread grief among Indians.
Forest officials, locals, bureaucrats and politicians have expressed sorrow on social media and shared photos of the last rites of the super mom tigress. She was also one of the most photographed tigress in the world.
The tigress died of complications due to old age at the Pench Tiger Reserve in central India on Saturday evening, park chief Ashok Kumar Mishra said on Monday, adding the big cat was more than 16 years old.
She was also known as Collarwali in Hindi, as she was the first feline to be radio-collared at the reserve in 2008.
Visuals showed several locals attending the cremation of the tigress, which was done in accordance with Hindu rites. Some held garlands while others folded their hands, paying their respects to Collarwali.
Social media were abuzz with Indians posting tributes and bidding farewell to the beloved Collarwali.
On seeing the love and affection with which people are bidding farewell to the tigress, Parveen Kaswan, an IFS officer tweeted, "Where else you will find such view other than India?"
Wildlife experts said Collarwali played a key role in maintaining the tiger population of the reserve, which reportedly has more than 130 tigers.
India is home to about 3,000 tigers, a species which is classified as Endangered in the Red List of Threatened Species published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
