A 14-year-old tigress has contributed almost half of the wildcat population in Madhya Pradesh's Pench Tiger Reserve, which has been adjudged the best-managed national park in the country, an official said.
The highly fertile tigress, "Collarwali", has earned the tag of "supermom" for her feat and is a star attraction in the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) located in Seoni district.
After giving birth to 25 cubs over a period of time, Collarwali had delivered four more cubs in December last year.
This made her the mother of 29 cubs born in different litters in the last 10 years, which forest officials feel, could be a record.
The PTR was jointly adjudged the best-managed national park along with the Periyar Reserve of Kerala in the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday.
"Collarwali had first given birth to three cubs in May 2008. Since then, she has given birth to 29 cubs, of which 25 have survived.
"I have not come across with news of such a feline in the country which has given birth to so many cubs in its lifespan, PTR field director Vikram Singh Parihar said on Tuesday.
"In a rare occurrence, Collarwali, born as one of the four cubs to famous tigress T-7 in 2005, had given birth to a litter of five cubs in October 2010," he said.
The tigress is a prolific breeder and cub-raiser, Parihar said.
Though national park-wise estimation is yet to be released, Parihar claimed tiger count in the PTR may be more than 53, up from 43 in 2014.
This estimation shows Collarwali has contributed almost half of the wildcat population in the PTR, nestled in the southern slopes of the Satpura range of hills in Central India.
The field director said the PTR has been jointly adjudged the best-managed national park along with the Periyar Reserve in a list featuring 50 national parks.
This ranking was based on parameters like protection of wildlife, lesser human intervention, anti-poaching measures, tourism management, employees welfare and community participation in conservation of wild animals, he added.
MPs Additional Chief Conservator of Forest (ACCF) Sanjay Shukla said a picture of tigress 'Lagaddi' (12 years), an inmate of PTR, has been published on the first page of All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018.
This picture was taken in May 2019, he said.
The tiger population in the country has grown from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018, according to the report.
Madhya Pradesh, with 526 big cats, has emerged as the "tiger capital" of the country.
The state was closely followed by Karnataka (524 tigers) at the second spot. Third and fourth sports went to Uttarakhand (442) and Maharashtra (312).
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