New Delhi: Machhli, arguably India’s most well-known tigress who died in 2016 and remains Ranthambore National Park’s greatest export, now has a memorial dedicated to her. Located outside the park’s Jogi Mahal gate, it is metres away from the jungle, ensconced within which are the lakes and the Mughal ruins that once served as her territory.
Machhli was regarded as the most photographed wild tiger in the world. But other than the place of pride she held for wildlife filmmakers, photographers and tourists—she was also responsible for replenishing the state’s tiger population. In 2004, NGO Tiger Watch discovered that the park had lost 50 per cent of its tigers. Two years later, it was a known fact: there were only 18 tigers left in all of Rajasthan. Today, this number has increased by leaps and bounds, with Rajasthan serving as home to 123 tigers.
In a large part, this is due to Machhli. Named after a fish-like marking on her face, she gave birth to 11 cubs.
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The statue, which has also been garlanded and stands on a bed of rose petals, was inaugurated by Rajasthan Forest Minister Sanjay Sharma on ‘Global Tiger Day’. According to an official, this is the second such memorial of a big cat in Rajasthan—and the first in Ranthambhore. A memorial for another tiger, Rajmata, exists in Sariska.
“Her cubs are all over Rajasthan—Ranthambhore, Sariska, Ramgarh-Vishdhari. The population rose because of her,” said Pramod Dhakar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Tourism), Ranthambhore Tiger Project. “We wanted something to remember her by.”
A matriarch, Machhli is also known for carving her very own dynasty of tiger queens, all of whom have ‘governed’ Ranthambhore’s famed tiger territory: the three lakes of Rajbagh Talao, Malik Talao, and Padam Talao.
When she passed away in 2016 at the ripe old age of 19, she received a number of obituaries.
“She was one of the biggest draws for thousands of tourists visiting Ranthambore National Park,” wrote the BBC. “She featured in many documentaries and amazed viewers when her fight with a 14-foot crocodile was caught on film.”
Conservationist and wildlife filmmaker Valmik Thapar, described her as “the most beautiful of all tigers”.
“She was the most beautiful of all the tigers I have ever seen and a star of the twenty-first century,” he writes in Living with Tigers. “Even towards the end, when she was nearly twenty years of age, and blind in one eye and toothless. She had lovely stripes around her cheek and body, and was a striking presence who brought great joy to those who observed her.”
Thapar goes on to describe his final sighting, towards the end of June 2016, right after she had killed a goat. He was “amazed,” he writes. She could still cut through flesh even with “worn-out stubs of teeth.”
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)