The T-15 tigress from Madhya Pradesh's Pench Tiger Reserve has died, leaving the locals and forest authorities in shock. Collarwali, a name given to her by the locals of that area, died due to old age. She was more than 16 years old. She was also one of the most photographed tigress in the world.
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).
Forest officials, locals, bureaucrats and politicians have expressed sorrow on social media and shared photos of the last rites of the super mom tigress.
Neha Shrivastava, a forest service civil servant tweeted the photo of a lady biding farewell to the tigress. She said that the contribution of the tigress was immense in restoring back the ecological balance of the tiger population. She also informed that the super mom was popularly called, 'Mataram' (the mother of Pench).
The Queen is no more. Died because of old age. Leaving behind her legacy and her 29cubs. Her contribution is immense in restoring back the ecological balance by improving the tiger population. #RIP #collarwali @PenchMP pic.twitter.com/ZEcpjtWCG6
— Neha Srivastava IFS (@Neha_IFS) January 16, 2022
Aditi Garg, an IAS officer tweeted the photos of the tigress, being carried for her last rites. Terming her as the queen of Pench, she quoted a poem of William Blake,
‘Tiger Tiger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?’
~ William Blake
RIP, Queen of Pench. You lived long and majestically. You ruled the food chain and because of you an entire forest was alive. #collarwali
— Aditi Garg (@AditiGargIAS) January 16, 2022
‘Tiger Tiger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?’~ William Blake pic.twitter.com/K3gsF0eWef
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?"
Last rites of tigress Collarwali of Pench. Where else you will find such view other than India !! pic.twitter.com/w1Q6STu793
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) January 17, 2022
Narottam Mishra, a cabinet minister in the Madhya Pradesh government said that the title of tiger state being given to the state of Madhya Pradesh cis incomplete without taking into consideration, the contributions of tigress super mom. He tweeted in hindi,
'सुपर मॉम' को आखिरी सलाम।
— Dr Narottam Mishra (@drnarottammisra) January 16, 2022
29 शावकों को जन्म देने वाली पेंच टाइगर रिजर्व की 'कॉलर वाली बाघिन' की मृत्यु की खबर दुखद है।
मध्यप्रदेश को मिली टाइगर स्टेट की गौरवशाली पहचान पर कोई भी चर्चा इस सुपर मॉम के महत्वपूर्ण योगदान के बिना पूरी नहीं हो सकेगी। pic.twitter.com/m82OoUyVfw