According to the All-India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, Madhya Pradesh was home to 526 tigers, the highest in any state of the country.  Madhya Pradesh had emerged as the "tiger state" of the country in 2018.

Recently a  tigress died at Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and videos and photos of a tigress being cremated are going viral on social media. A tigress is popularly known as Collarwali or Mataram. She was born in September 2005. She was radio-collared in March 2008. She was India’s first tigress to be radio-collared. After that radio collar stopped functioning, she was again radio-collared in January 2010. The tigress later became famous as "Collarwali". A radio collar helps the forest officials to track the tigers movement and make sure they are safe. She has given birth to 29 tiger cubs in her lifespan. She was also known as a ‘Super Mom’ for giving birth to many cubs. This helped India a lot in improving its tiger population. 

She was also a darling of the visitors of PTR and was often described as the most photographed tiger in the world. A Pench Tiger Reserve said that the tigress aged 16 died at around 6.15 pm on 15th January.

She is said to have died of natural causes. Post mortem revealed that she died of multiple organ failure.

According to experts, the average age of a tiger is about 12 years. A team of foresters had been keeping a watch on the tiger’s health for the past week. The last rites of Collarwali were performed with full respect by the officials of the Pench Tiger Reserve which attracted a huge crowd.  Visuals showed several locals attending the funeral of the tigress, Some were seen with garlands, others with folded hands to pay their last respects to Collarwali. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also paid tribute to the "Super Tigress Mom" on Twitter. 

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and a lot of other celebrities too expressed grief over the death of the beloved tigress.

Tags

• Madhya
• Pradesh
• Tiger
• Collarwali
• Dead
• forest

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