Pench National Park, a surreal park that beholds the memories of Sher khan, Baloo, Bagheera, and The Mowgli, will sway you with its amazing sightings. Its undulating landscape, serene waterscapes, and exotic wildlife will surely amaze you. Known as Heaven for birders with more than 200 species of birds including migratory birds and the finest flora you can ever find across Central India. Other fauna like 105 species of butterflies, 35 different types of mammals and reptiles can also enthrill you with their sight.
Pench Tiger Reserve was a lesser-known destination for tiger tourism against tiger-centric parks like Bandhavgarh, Ranthambore, and Kanha. Pench became more famous after BBC’s documentary “Tiger Spy in The Jungle” which was shot from 2005-2007 and was aired in 2008. The park got famous in 2011 because of The Legendary Tigris Collarwali (T-15) with her 5 Cub.
Pench is also one of the well-managed parks in Madhya Pradesh and because of the conservation efforts from the Forest Department, it has shown positive changes in the wild. Therefore, the increase in the population graph of tigers can be very well distinguished, which has immensely increased the growth of tourism in Pench.
Here are, our living legends who have astonished our guests this season (2109-2020) with their sightings.
Collarwali
T15 Collarwali Tigress or Mataram or Queen of Pench was born in 2005. She is a celebrity tigress who played a child cub character in BBC’s famous documentary Tiger Spy in the Jungle. Born to BadiMada female and Charger male, she carved her own territory from her mother and settled herself in the heart of the core zone of Pench. She is the record holder for giving the highest number of cubs in the wild with 29 cubs, from which 24 cubs have survived by far. Because of her old age and the pressure coming from another tigress with her sub-adult cubs, she was confined to a smaller area. As Collarwali’s moment with her three male cubs was restricted to a particular area, this season we had a blast of her sightings with her ferocious cubs.
Langdi
T20 Born in 2009 with a twisted right front leg was given the name ‘Langdi’. Langdi is also one of the cubs of Badimada. She is another successful breeding female of Pench. Langdiholds the territory southern west of Kalapahad, covering two major waterholes Junewani and Bijjamatta. 2018-2019, she had 4 cubs out of which 3 Males and 1 female were born. All 4 successfully raise up till adulthood and started leaving her mother. In season 2019-20 some of our guests got very lucky, as they could document the hunting done by Langdi with her 3 cubs chasing a Male spotted deer.
Patdev
T04.Patdev, Born in 2010 to Rayakassa male andCollarwali female from her 3rd litter. T04 took some time in landmarking her area and settled in the northeastern side of Kalapahad temporarily. After some time her Aunt Baginnallah Tigress who was settled in the southeastern area of the park, suddenly died due to a poisoning done in one of her waterholes, which then further became the territory of this beautiful female.
As she covers a pretty big area of about 30 sq km, covering Baginnallah waterhole, BondwalDogri, AlijhodNayatalab, and Bodhanalah makes her one of the strongest tigresses in the reserve. If you are on a tiger safari, there are high chances that you will hear her roar in the dense jungle, and if you are lucky enough, you will see her.
Trishul
This is a New Male tiger that is frequently sighted in this season 2019-20 and is predominantly the boldest tiger reigning the grounds of Pench. He is known as Trishul (Trident Weapon of Lord Shiva) as one can see the Trishul mark pointing downwards on his left cheek. He is about 4 years old and strong enough to hold half the territory in the core zone.
L-Mark
L-Mark, Born in 2016 to a Langdi female and a Rayakassa male is ruling the other half of the Pench tiger reserve. One can easily identify this handsome male by looking at his left cheek which clearly shows the L mark. He is one of the Dominant Male tigers of the park who took the territory from his father RayakassaTiger, which includes, the Junewani waterhole, Bijamatta waterhole, Salaitek andPyorthadi rocks.
Contributed By: Gaurav Dhotre and Himani Chouhan, Naturalists at Pench Tree Lodge
