Collarwali or T15, one of India’s most popular tigresses in the wild, died from old age at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday evening. The legendary tigress was more than 15 years old and had earned the ‘Super Mom’ title by giving her lifetime. This female cub was radio-collared in March 2008. After that radio collar stopped functioning, she was again radio collared in January 2010. The tigress later become famous as “Collarwali” or T15 tigress. According to Ashok Kumar Mishra, the cause of her death was multiple organ failure due to intestine blockage resulting from old age. Also her intestine was blocked with mud and hair. On may 20, 2008, she was spotted with her three cubs, her first little, but none survived. The autopsy found her cubs had died of pneumonia. But then, on October 25 the same year, she gave birth to four cubs and raised all of them successfully.
Two years later, Collarwali surprised everyone by delivering five cubs in a litter. There is hardly any record of a tigress giving birth to five cubs at one go. She raised all of them. Over the years, she gave birth to 29 cubs out of which 25 survived.
MP’s Pench tiger reserve loses its ‘Supermom’
