New Delhi: Anant Sonawane’s ‘Maya: The Biography of a Tiger’ depicts an intimate portrait of one of Maharashtra’s most beloved tigresses. The story begins in 2010, when she was born and orphaned early in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. Over time, she became known for her striking composure, her ease around jeeps and cameras, and her hold over a vast and contested territory. Her life, closely followed by visitors and wildlife watchers alike, went far beyond Tadoba’s forest roads and became part of a wider public legend.
In August 2023, Maya disappeared without a trace, prompting national headlines and deep concern among those who had tracked her for years. Sonawane retraces her life from those precarious beginnings to her rise as a matriarch, offering a clear-eyed portrait of a tiger seen up close without being reduced to myth.
The book has drawn praise from Sachin Tendulkar, Uddhav Thackeray and Raveena Tandon, while HarperCollins India says it offers a ‘rare glimpse’ into the intimate world of one of India’s most iconic tigresses. In the publisher’s view, the biography will appeal to animal lovers and tiger enthusiasts alike.
Anant Sonawane is a journalist turned conservation communicator and storyteller who works at the intersection of science, wildlife and public engagement. Since 2021, he has been the communications officer for the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve and executive editor of Tadoba Diaries. He is also the author of Ek Hoti Maya, which won the Lokmat Sahitya Puraskar.