5 most popular tigers in India

In 2019, India had celebrated a stupendous growth in tiger populations. The population has almost doubled since the turn of the century. The species miraculous revival in the 1970s, with the launch of Project Tiger by Indira Gandhi. While the successful revival of the Bengal Tiger is an apt representation of India’s conservational aptitude, challenges still lie ahead. The species is still considered as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List for Threatened Species. Regardless, the cat has generated much revenue for local communities in the form of wildlife tourism. In particular, a few celebrity tigers have garnered much of the stardom. Here we discuss five of the most popular Bengal Tigers in the country.

Collarwali, Pench

Known officially as T-15, Collarwali is probably the most successful tigress in the world. In January 2019, at the relatively old age of 13, she gave birth to four cubs. Her seventh litter in twelve years of maternity took her cub tally to a record 30 individuals. Surprisingly, most of her cubs survived till adulthood, which is a rare phenomenon in the wild. This can be attributed to Collarwali’s highly ferocious and protective nature. Furthermore, she would frequently let her subadult cubs fend for themselves. This would give them ample survival training before it was time to bid adieu to their mother.

Collarwali’s success can also be attributed to her superior genes. She was the daughter of Tiger Charger and Tigress Badi Mala. The father is known for his notorious aggression and the mother, Badi Mala, was a very successful mother, giving birth to a respectable 19 cubs. 

T15 was affectionately named Collarwali, as she was one of the few young tigers to be radio collared in Pench. While the collar has been lost deep in the Land of Mowgli, tourists and locals alike still affectionately call the female Collarwali. 

Machali, Ranthambore

Few would argue that Machali is the most popular tiger in the world’s history. In fact, tourism revenue of nearly $100 million can be attributed to the single tigress. This contribution led to her being honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award of Travel Operator For Tigers.

Like her mother, Machali 1, she was named after a fish shaped mark on her face. However, her name is not the only thing Machali inherited from her mother. Shortly after reaching adulthood, the younger cat overthrew her mother’s reign over Ranthambore’s most pristine tiger habitat. Spread over a huge 350 square kilometres, Machali’s kingdom spanned the historic Ranthambore Fort, Lake and surrounding meadows. For this reason, she was proclaimed as the “Queen of Ranthambore”

Machali certainly did justice to the accolade. She played a crucial role in regenerating Rajasthan’s tiger population. Over the span of seven years, Machali gave birth to and successfully raised eleven cubs. Her offspring contributed immensely to the park’s tiger population. In fact, over half the park’s tigers are thought to be of her lineage. In 2008, two of her female cubs were translocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve. The efforts were highly prognetive, as both females immensely contributed to the revival of tiger populations in the highly controversial reserve.

However, Machali was most renowned for her killing of an eleven foot marsh crocodile during the drought of 2003. This was the first record of a tiger preying on the prehistoric reptilian. In the process Machali lost two of her canines. Following this, numerous documentaries were created based on her life, including the “Lady of Lakes”, “Crocodile Killer”, and “Tiger Queen”. International firms such as BBC Earth, National Geographic Wild and Animal Planet simply could not get enough of her. 

In 2014, Machali disappeared from Zone 5 of Ranthambore. This led to much public outcry. A team consisting of nearly 200 staff was involved in her search. Her sighting after a period of three weeks brought much relief to wildlife tourists around the world.

While most tigers rarely live up to 15 years in the wild, Machali died in 2016, at an age of 20, making her the tiger with the longest lifespan. However, her lifespan was prolonged artificially by the Forest Department. Towards the latter stage, Machali was struggling immensely – she had lost all her teeth and was blind in one eye. She was not able to hunt. In fact, life came a full cycle as Machali’s own daughter, Sita, overthrew her lake kingdom. 

In a controversial move, the Forest Department decided to prolong Machali’s life by providing her with livestock on a regular basis to compensate for her inability to hunt. This received significant criticism, as interfering in natural faunal life cycles is not a common practice. Nonetheless, upon her death, Machali was cremated with full Hindu rituals, marking the end to one of India’s greatest wildlife tales. 

Munna, Kahna

In March 2021, Kanha National Park lost its oldest and probably most popular tiger, T17. Once during an intense territorial fight with another male, the dominant male injured his hind limb. Guides found his limp to resemble that of one of their colleagues. They hence named the ferocious cat Munna, after their beloved peer. Munna is known for his iconic stripe patterning which formed the words CAT and PM on his forehead. 

Munna’s popularity is attributed to his fearless attitude. While males are usually extremely shy, Munna had no such inhibitions. He always blessed tourists with wonderful sightings. Prior to his rise to fame, Munna proved to be a menace for the neighbouring villages, where he frequently preyed on unexpecting livestock. Villagers were also occasionally injured in the process, though there is no scientific evidence of him being a maneater. 

During his lifespan, Munna was feared by his competitors. It was not infrequent for Munna to murder rival males during territorial fights. In fact, during his youth, the ruthless male had delivered the same fate to males nearly double his age!

Munna’s dominance attests to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. His descendants were some of the strongest and most successful tigers of Kanha. Chota Munna seems to be filling the void left by his father’s demise. 

In January 2018, the aged Munna had disappeared, creating much panic amongst the Forest Department and tourists alike. He was found a few weeks later in the buffer zones of Kanha. The popular male was banished from his territory by upcoming young males, such as T-2 and T-56. Age was certainly creeping up on the popular cat, leading to his recent demise.

Matkasur, Tadoba

Tadoba is a classic example of how charismatic tigers have revolutionized a sanctuary’s tourism. Up until the commencement of the previous decade, Tadoba and the larger Chandrapur District was only associated with coal mines and hydroelectric dams. However, despite immense habitat fragmentation, tiger populations have skyrocketed in the park. With the emergence of the tourist industry in Tadoba, there have been many curious observations of tigers. One such tiger which has blessed tourists with uncommon sightings is Matkasur. The built male came into prominence after dominating a battle with the ferocious male named Gabbar. He reigned over the Moharli Zone of the reserve, which also houses a plethora of females. 

Matkasur has a fairly strong lineage in the park, successfully fathering the cubs of two prominent females, Choti Tara and Maya. While the mother of his most popular descendant, Chota Matka, is the former female, tourists often associate Matkasur with Maya. In fact, until Matkasur’s reign, there was much discomfort in the life of Maya. Not only had tragedy struck her first two litters, but her range overlapped with four upcoming males. Matkasur not only brought a temporary end to the instability but aided Maya in successfully raising her third litter. In fact, Matkasur was often observed spending family time with Maya and cubs. Such sights are extremely rare in the wild. Only Zaalim (T25) of Ranthambore has provided tourists with similar sightings.

In 2017, a controversy erupted around Matkasur. The male had killed an unaware forest guard, who was relieving nature’s call during a tiger census. There was a raging debate over whether he was a man-eater. Fortunately, he was deemed innocent and the family of the forest guard were compensated.

Matkasur again regained popularity in the summer of 2018. An attempt to hunt a sloth bear cub had been thwarted by the mother bear. In fact, hundreds of tourists watched in awe as the bear successfully stood her ground to a tiger double her size.

Unfortunately, age is catching up with Matkasur. The Moharli zone has been infiltrated by younger, and more ambitious males, such as Rudra. The seasoned male has been pushed to the buffer regions of Tadoba.

Avni, Yavatamal

In recent years, one of the most prominent controversies plaguing tiger conservation is the death of Tigress Avni, also known as T1. The tigress had been accused of murdering humans in the Pandharkawada-Ralegaon forests of the Yavatmal District of Maharashtra between 2016 and 2018. The Supreme Court provided directives in September 2018 for the alleged man eater to be tranquilized and captured. The search operation had involved over 200 forest officials and a plethora of infrared cameras. On the 2nd of November 2018, Avni was shot dead near Broati Village in Yavatmal by a civilian hunter, Ashgar Ali Khan, the son of India’s most controversial hunter Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, in the presence of Forest Department Officials. It was claimed that the shooting was in self defense, after Avni had turned aggressive following a failed attempt to tranquilize her. 

Although the Supreme Court’s orders had allowed for the shooting of the tigress as a “last resort”, the incident has been condemned immensely across the country. The most glaring issue with the shooting was that the Forest Department had rewarded the hunter for his deeds. Not only was this a blatant breach of laws, but also an act of trophy hunting. Fortunately, the Supreme Court has reprimanded authorities for the same. Furthermore, wildlife activists have claimed that DNA analysis and the broader post-mortem autopsy of Avni diluted claims of her being a man-eater, although this is still under investigation.

Much concern was directed towards the two cubs of T1 who, at a tender age of nine months, would not be able to fend for themselves in the wild. After much deliberation, the two cubs were tranquilized and eventually shifted to a Rescue Centre in Nagpur. 

Fortunately, the controversial killing is still being investigated by various authorities, including the SC and the Maharashtra state government. Nonetheless, the incident highlights India’s inefficiencies in handling human-wildlife conflict. Avni’s supporters battle on. Vidya’ Balan’s recent movie, Sherni, streaming on Amazon Prime, supposedly sheds light into this controversial incident.

Special Mentions

These were five of India’s most beloved tigers/tigresses. However, this list is not exhaustive and, with India home to nearly 3,000 of these cats, there are plenty of other tigers who have been highly popular amongst tourists. Some notable individuals include Maya (Tadoba), Sultan (Ranthambore), Parwalli (Jim Corbett), Backwater Male and Female (Kabini) and Bamera (Bandhavgarh). 

Local communities will be reliant on these wonderful cats to revive the wildlife tourism industry in the coming months, which has been decimated by the pandemic.

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