Rishikesh: An old tigress from Rajaji Tiger Reserve has been untraceable for the past year and efforts to locate her have been fruitless so far. When this missing tigress was seen in a camera trap in 2005, its age was estimated to be around five years. On this basis, today her age would have been 21 years, which is considered to be the maximum age of a tiger in wild conditions.
Sanctuary director Dharmesh Kumar Singh also admitted that the missing tigress is at the peak of wild conditions and said that even after a thorough investigation and collection of evidence, its existence has not been confirmed yet. A tigress named ‘Machhli’, known all over the world as the ‘Lady of the Lake’ of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan was plucked at the age of 21 in the presence of the sanctuary administration.
Even after becoming helpless, old, and blind, the ‘fish’ survived under the supervision of the sanctuary administration and Ranthambore Tiger Reserve took care of it till its last moment. The same happened with the male tiger ‘Munna’ of Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. After dominating the Kanha forests for a decade and a half, it was first kept in the buffer zone of the forest and then in Bhopal Zoo when it got older.
‘Munna’ also died at the age of 21 at Bhopal Zoo. ‘Machli’ and ‘Munna’ could live up to a maximum of 21 years only under the supervision of the respective sanctuary administrations, while there is no trace of the old tigress, missing from Rajaji Tiger Reserve for a year.
