Collarwali breathes her last, MP’s Pench tiger reserve loses its ‘Supermom’
- The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests PCCF said prima facie, it seemed that the tigress died due to old age.
- The State Forest Research Institute tracked Collarwali for seven years to study breeding and cub-raising among tigers
- It was described as “the pride of the entire Madhya Pradesh”
About Pench Tiger Reserve and National Park
- It is named after the Pench River.
- It is located in the southern reaches of the Satpura hills in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts in Madhya Pradesh, and continues in Nagpur district in Maharashtra as a separate Sanctuary.
- It was declared a National Park by the Government of Maharashtra in 1975 and the status of a tiger reserve was granted to it in the year 1998-1999.
- It is one of the major Protected Areas of Satpura-Maikal ranges of the Central Highlands.
- It is among the sites notified as Important Bird Areas (IBA) of India.
Pench River
- It is a tributary of the Kanhan River.
- It originates in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh and flows through the middle of the park.
- It descends from north to south, thereby dividing the reserve into equal eastern and western parts.
Reasons for fame of Collarwali (Tigress)
- It was also known as the queen of Pench and a Super Mom who birthed 29 cubs
- It played an important role in getting MP the tag of a tiger state.
- It gave birth to 29 cubs in eight litters and successfully raised 25 which is a rare incident
- This has earned her the title of “Supermom” among wildlife lovers.
Project Tiger
- The project Tiger began in 1973 with the establishment of nine tiger reserves with the goal of saving the national animal, the tiger.
- It now covers 53 tiger reserves throughout 18 tiger habitat states
- The tiger reserves are constituted on a core/buffer strategy.
- The core parts are legally designated as a national park or a sanctuary, while the buffer or peripheral areas are a mix of forest and non-forest land maintained as a multiple-use area.
- It is a Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change-sponsored scheme that provides government aid to tiger states for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.