Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, situated in the heart of Maharashtra, is renowned for the charismatic tigers who rule the breathtaking lengths of this popular jungle. Tigers of Tadoba define power, beauty and they are the guardians of the jungle.
Love for the tigers is not just confined to the tourism, but local people consider tigers as a deity. For them tigers have a special place because they believe that its the tigers who protect the forest, and eventually contribute towards their livelihood by giving them employment.
Each tiger within Tadoba has its own unique story, personality, and territory, and these big cats command respect and admiration from all who encounter them. Their presence in the ecosystem not only regulates prey populations but also serves as an indicator of the reserve’s ecological health.
This blog will highlight about the different individual tigers and their stories explaining the different traits that make them unique.
Tigers of Tadoba National Park
1) Roma:
Roma is one of the most bold and young tigresses that Tadoba has witnessed till date. She’s tourist’s favourite tigress to photograph and her sighting is always a treat for the eyes. Her bold attitude, graceful demeanour and the way she walks on the road for long distance without being bothered by large vehicles makes her sighting always extra special. Choti Tara and Rudra are the parents of Roma and her sibling named Bijlee. Roma is four year old tigress and had two female cubs.
They are the first litter of Roma with Balram one of the dominant male tiger in core area who sired the cubs. One of the female cub of Roma was relocated to Nagzira recently, as a part of tiger re-introduction program at Nagzira National Park.
Roma is now expanding her territory. Half of her territory is in the non-tourism area of the park. In the tourism area her area goes from Kunbi Tank, Jamunbodi, Panchdhara till the Tadoba Lake which is quite a big area with good amount of water and grassland available.
It is one of the prime areas in the core area of Tadoba National Park. She is named after one of the character from the Bollywood movie named ‘Don’. The character was played by Priyanka Chopra in which she was denoted as ‘Junglee Billi’ from which the tigress was named Roma by one of the photographer.
2) Bijlee:
‘Bijlee’ meaning thunder defines this tigress in one word. Nurtured by Choti Tara and Rudra she is one of the famous tigresses of Tadoba like her sibling Roma. Roma and Bijlee are now both expanding their territory and are the dominant ones.
Bijlee has mated with another dominant male named Yuvraj. With Yuvraj, she has one male cub. Another interesting fact that Bijlee is nurturing the cub of Choti Tara, her mother, is an unlikely wildlife moment, rare to witness.
The story goes that Choti Tara had one male cub who got misplaced due to to intervention of another male, and the misplaced cub was found by Bijlee whom she adopted and is observed nurturing him with her biological cub.
The cubs are fondly called ‘Mama and Bhanja; The cub of Choti Tara is named Mama and Bijlees biological cub as Bhanja as the guides say Mama is the brother of Bijlee but from another litter (looking from the family point of view).
Bijlee has established her area at one of the major waterbodies in the core area namely Jamni Lake which has a good amount of water with lots of grasslands attracting many herbivores which means she has lots of food availability. Her area goes from Rampur Naala to Jamni Lake and into the Kolara buffer as well.
Know More: Best Time to Visit in Tadoba National Park for Wildlife
3) Choti Tara:
Tadoba had seen so many tigers which have passed down the legacy from one generation to another. Some due to their aura, strength, and spirit. Guides say there used to be tigers who were amazing in terms of sightings. Such tigress is Choti Tara who is known for her bold nature.
Born in the year 2009 she was raised by Yada-Anna and Tara. Choti Tara is named after her mother Tara. Her territory was overlapped with another bold and strong female tigress named Maya.
There had been incidences where both the females had a territorial fight. One of Choti Tara’s cubs named Chota Matka is now ruling the buffer areas of Nimdhela, Alizanza, and Navegaon and is considered to be the king of the buffer. With Choti Tara getting old she was pushed away by her daughters Roma and Bijlee, now she can be sighted in areas like Pandherpauni 1 and 2 which go up to Chikhalwai. She was seen mating with the male tiger Mowgli. Recently her 2 months old 3 cubs were sighted at Chikhalwai sired by Mowgli.
4) Sonam:
In the heart of the Moharli Zone lies the place called as Telia lake which is the good source of water for all the animals in the park. But what makes Telia Lake special is the presence of a power who is the guardian of Telia, a protective mother and a tigress who can go up to any extent to protect her territory. She was named Sonam because she has a prominent S mark below her neck on the right side.
Born and raised by the tiger pair who have marked their names in history as pioneer and legendary tigers contributing to Tadoba’s prime stage of today’s time named Wagdoh also called Big Daddy and Madhuri. Madhuri gave birth to 4 female cubs named Sonam, Lara, Geeta, and Mona also called Telia Sisters.
A documentary was also made on the Telia Sisters showcasing their life. Once the sisters were ready to be separated the point came to who would rule the Telia. But it was Sonam who turned out to be the very dominant and strongest tigresses among her sisters and defeated them, forcing the other three sisters to leave Telia. Lara settled herself in the Buffer area, but Geeta and Mona were nowhere to be seen after that.
Sonam is now an old tigress aged 14 and is still dominating Telia. She mated with Chota Dadhiyal and produced three cubs which are around 8 months old. Sonam’s prime area is Telia which goes up to Pandhrapaani, Purani Vihir, Jamunjhora, and to Junona buffer area.
With good areas and increasing tiger numbers comes a great challenge. Now Sonam has got a new challenger who is stronger and younger her name is Collarwali. Recently she was seen fighting with Sonam in which Sonam got injured badly. Now the time will tell who will be the new queen of Telia. Will Sonam continue to reign the area or leave?
5. Chota Matka:
Massive strength, and big size tiger defines Chota Matka, the gentle giant of Tadoba. Chota Matka was born in Tadoba Core in the year 2016. He was fathered by the famous male tiger named Matkasur and his mother Choti Tara. He had one male sibling named Tarachand but he died after separation from mother Choti Tara. The name Chota Matka was derived from his father Matkasur due to its size.
Chota Matka now reigns the buffer areas of Alizanza, Nimdhela, and Navegaon also occasionally he comes into the core area of Navegaon meadows and Kaala Ambaa. All the cubs in the buffer areas are fathered by Chota Matka, because of his size no other males have got a chance to dominate the buffer area.
His warrior marks show how much he had to fight to defend his territory. He is the undefeated king of the buffer area and is considered to be the biggest tiger of Tadoba.
Know More: Black Leopard in Tadoba National Park
6. Chota Dadhiyal:
When it comes to being the most handsome of all then Chota Dadhiyal is the top contender for being the most handsome male tiger of Tadoba. Chota Dadhiyal was born in the Sirkhadha buffer in the Kolsa Zone. He was under the care of Dadhiyal and Patlinbai.
Chota Dadhiyal had one brother named Bheema but after the separation, he was nowhere to be seen. Chota Dadhiyal’s name is derived from his father’s name Dadhiyal. In Hindi, Dadhiyal means beard, which is more prominent in Chota Dadhiyal. He is the young dominant male and has fathered Sonams 3 cubs. In the month of April, he was seen mating with Collarwali in the Junona buffer and after a few days he was seen mating with a young tigress, C3 Female of the core area.
Chota Dadhiyal is known to cover a lot of areas he can be seen near the Khutwanda core gate, and Khatodha gate and he can also be seen near many waterbodies in the core area like Aswalhira, Jamunjhora, Ambebodhi, Telia Lake.
7. Choti Madhu:
Another tigress who is known for her bold attitude and is considered to be the queen of buffer areas of Moharli is Choti Madhu. She was raised by Madhuri, from which the name Choti Madhu was derived, and fathered by a tiger called Khali. Also, she has a prominent M mark above her right eye. She had two more siblings one brother and one sister after the separation they were not seen. Madhu is now in her prime and is ruling the buffer areas of Moharli.
She can be seen in the buffer areas of Moharli namely Junona, Dewada, and Agarzari. Ambejhari and Kaalapani are some of the areas where there is plenty of water available and, good amount of grassland to hide and also it attracts many herbivores as well which makes food availability.
Also what makes it more special Choti Madhu crosses the main road to go from Agarzari to Dewada zone as these two areas are separated by a main road which goes to Chandrapur. She had mated with male tiger named Taru and had 3 cubs but unfortunately they were killed by the another dominant male tiger called Shambhu. After few days she was seen mating with the Shambhu in Dewada area and on 2nd May,2024 Choti Madhu’s 3 tiny little cubs were seen by the guides during morning safari which bought joy to all of us.
8. Bhanushkhindhi:
Tracking lineages of Tadoba can also be challenging sometimes. Sometimes it stays a mystery, as to who are the parents of the particular tiger or tigress.
One such Tigress is Bhanushkhindhi or Amba female. There is no information available about her parents in which year she was born or where was she born. But looking at her it seems she is a old tigress probably 12 or 13 years old. She was first sighted in the year 2016 in the tourism area of tiger reserve in buffer areas of Navegaon.
Bhanushkindhi tigress was named after the area Bhanushkindhi nullah which is present in Nimdhela buffer, where the tigress was often seen. Bhanushkhindhi can be seen in the buffer areas of Navegaon buffer also in some parts of non tourism area like Kala Amba. On a few occasions she was also seen in the tourism area of Navegaon meadows which is in the core area. She gave birth to 4 cubs fathered by Chota Matka, in the year 2021. One of her cubs died due to some health issues.
Now she has 3 cubs which are fully grown and by the end of the season they will separate. These 2 male sub-adult cubs and 1 female sub-adult cub are now the show stoppers of Buffer areas. They are also named Nayantara, Shiva, and Hajare by the guides.
9. Mowgli:
An innocent face with massive head and body size, describe Mowgli. He was named Mowgli because he has a trishul which looks like ‘M ’from which the name was derived. Mowgli was born in the year 2016 his parents are Kuwani female and Gangaram. Mowgli was born in the Kolsa zone along with 2 siblings Paras and one sister.
Tigers in the Kolsa zone are known for their massive size, being both aggressive and sometime shy in nature. The main prey for the tigers in the Kolsa range are Indian Gaur. Mowgli observed his mother how she hunted Gaur and later after separation he started feasting on gaurs which lead to his massive size. Mowgli moved towards the northern portion of the park near kolara side whereas Paras moved towards the buffer areas of Moharli. There is no information available about Mowgli’s sister.
In the summer of year 2022, Mowgli had to face tough challenge from big male Chota Matka. After the fight with Chota Matka, Mowgli was badly injured and had to leave that area. Now Mowgli can be seen in the core area of Kolara range in the area like Chikhalwai, Ainbodi, Pandherpauni 1 and 2 also in the Waterbody 97.
Also recently he has been sighted in the buffer area of Nimdhela were he was chased away by Bhanushkhindhi and her two male cubs. In the month of February, he was seen mating with Choti Tara.
Contributed by : Mrunmay Desai, Naturalist at Waghoba Eco Lodge, A Luxury Resort in Tadoba.
