Collar Wally: India's Celebrity Lioness 'Collar Wally', a Terrible Hunter and Loyal Friend
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| Collar Wally: India's Celebrity Lioness 'Collar Wally', a Terrible Hunter and Loyal Friend |
The Indian tiger 'Super Mum' was no ordinary tiger.
One of the country's most famous lions, the "collar" lioness, died last week at the age of 16. The tiger was instrumental in changing the fate of the Panch Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
One expert said the tiger was named "Collar Wally" because of the radio collar around its neck. This tiger gave birth to a total of 29 cubs on 8 occasions in her life.
The tiger became very popular in India after appearing in the BBC Wildlife documentary 'Spy in the Jungle'. The documentary was based on two years of the lives of four lion cubs.
Prabir Patil, who has been working at the Punch Reserve since 2004, says that after the documentary, many people started coming to the park and often tried to find it by naming it 'Collar Wali'.
He died on Saturday due to complications caused by old age.
Experts and forest officials saw the tiger grow up in the park. These are the same forests that Rudyard Kipling's famous book, The Jungle Book, is said to be about.
The collar was born in 2005 and at that time was called T15. Her mother was called "Badi Mata" and she was also a well-known lioness. The caller's father's name was T-One.
The collar later became the first tiger to be fitted with a radio collar to gather information about its movements.
She was affectionately known as 'Matram' or 'Respected Mother'.
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| The Indian tiger 'Super Mum' was no ordinary tiger. |
"Before the birth of the collar, lions were rarely seen in the Punch Reserve, but they soon became the most visited tigers," says Patil.
Wildlife and environmental activist Vivek Menon says the tiger was a "punch mark". He added that it was because of his unique temperament that many people and photographers came to know about him and his children.
Muhammad Rafiq Sheikh, who was brought up near this reserve, has guided hundreds of tourists in this reserve. He says that Kallarwali has never disappointed the tourists who come there.
Mohammad Rafi says that "she was a very friendly animal that used to get very close to the tourist cars without any fear."
India is home to 70% of the world's tigers. Their numbers were dwindling, but according to the government's latest estimates, the number has risen to 2,976. Every year thousands of tourists visit the 51 Tiger Reserves spread across India and they hope to see a lion up close.
The collar was a special tiger in many respects. After determining her territory, she seldom got out of it and ruled there till her death.
"She was so big that other lions were afraid to fight her," says Patil. At times, officials from other parks, seeing his size, mistakenly thought he was a male.
Out of 29 children of Kallarwali, 25 survived, which is a record in India and perhaps in the world.
Her first three cubs died of pneumonia in 2008 but she continued to have offspring, and in 2010 she surprised experts when she gave birth to five cubs together, an unusual number of lions. ۔
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| Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. |
Lions usually keep their cubs close for about two years, but the collarbone teaches them self-reliance and often leaves them in places where potential attackers are.
In the park, veterinarian Aklesh Mishra treated the collarbone several times. "She was a powerful mother," he says. Sometimes she would hunt twice in one day to feed her children. '
He considers himself one of the lucky people in the world to have had the opportunity to work with this tiger.
Wildlife and environmental protection activist Vivek Menon says Collarwali is credited with making Pench known as a reserve where the environment is healthy. Is part of the legacy of, the number of lions will also increase from the children born of it.
Everyone who spoke to the BBC had a favorite story about the collar. Patel remembers an incident when Kallarwali and her three siblings chased a hungry leopard into its area and forced it to climb a tree.
Wildlife photographer Varun Thackeray's 2011 scene in which the collar was with her children is memorable. In it, a total of six lions were resting on and around a rock by the river Panch. Eleven years later, that scene is still fresh in their minds.
Dr Mishra says the intelligent collar often lay out in the open when she was upset or injured, as if she were waiting for help from her caregivers.
According to one source, she did so the day before her death, when she was "so weak" that she could barely walk.
The collar was cremated on Sunday in an open field of the reserve as the last rites after flowers and prayers by staff and local villagers.
"It was a rare tiger with a collar," said Dr Mishra. They want to celebrate his life instead of mourning his death. "
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