The most prolific tigress of Tadoba
The prevailing summer wind swooshed by the dried grass. A patch of clouds floated swiftly in the azure sky, casting a shadow on the ground. The well-nigh silence was broken by a whirring sound, which was getting louder and louder. At a distance, an old tanker was chugging along the road. A few pairs of ravenous eyes were all ears and eyes.
The tanker stopped at a cement saucer and filled it with water - long before an influx of gypsys dawned on Tadoba, water tankers would ply the roads, filling cement saucers with water in an otherwise dry and extremely hot forest of Tadoba.
As the water tanker left, four cubs waiting with bated breath entered the water hole. This was the famous gang of cubs - Ookhan, Circuit, Choti Tara and Imli, collectively called Circuit gang that single-handedly made Tadoba (famous with tourists).
The regularly sighted cubs (a rarity in the 2000s) were an immediate crowd-puller. Born in 2009, to the most dominant tiger and tigress of Moharli zone, Yeda Anna aka Charger and Tara aka Lakshmi aka Nakkati (she was known as Nakkati at Kolara zone, after a cut on her nose) in her third litter, the cubs were a playful lot; amongst them, Circuit was the naughtiest and boldest.
Closer to subadulthood, Circuit possibly was killed by another male tiger, Imli was never heard of. Ookhan migrated to Godazhari, north-east of his birthplace, while Choti Tara became a resident tigress. Tara was ousted by Madhuri (the daughter from earlier litter) and she moved further north (at Kolara). Yeda Anna ruled his territory at Moharli for a brief period before he was ousted by Waghdoh.
The once famous circuit gang is reduced to just one tigress, Choti Tara. But that’s just the humble beginning of a truly remarkable journey of this tigress.
Choti Tara migrated to Jamni area but she began to expand her territory. She mated with the dominant male, Gabbar aka Leopard face and gave birth to her first litter, a female cub known as Sitara, and two male cubs, in 2013 (one of the male cubs seemed to have perished very early, and another died at the time of separation from the mother). It seems that the cubs separated from the mother much earlier.
In December 2014, Choti Tara and her mate Gabbar were radio-collared by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) as a part of radio telemetry study to understand dispersal in large carnivores. Tadoba was ruled by three behemoths – Saturn, Gabbar and Tyson, with Gabbar being the most dominant of the three. For reasons unknown, he became meek and took a beating from his rivals after the collaring episode (the collaring activity or the episodes leading to it could have had a profound effect on a dominant male like Gabbar). Choti Tara ironically remained composed. In fact, she was initially fitted with a VHF radio collar that was later upgraded to a GPS chip, and was probably tranquilized atleast 4 times in her lifetime for the radio-collaring and removal activity (The collar was removed many months ago, but she remained collared for almost 8 years).
A new tiger Matkasur actively started patrolling and marking territories since mid-2015. His ascension to the throne coincided with the decline in rule of Saturn, Gabbar and Tyson, the three dominant males of Tadoba then. Matkasur actively pursued Maya (seemingly killing two of her cubs from Saturn and ousting the third after it reached subadulthood). Matkasur also mated with Choti Tara and in late 2016, she delivered her new litter. This time too, three cubs were said to be born, while one perished very young. The other two males named Chota Matka and Tara Chand, grew up to be very huge and handsome, thanks to CT’s (short for Choti Tara) exceptional hunting skills and rearing abilities, and the protection of Matkasur.
At around 22 months of age, in the summer of 2018, both the male cubs were collared (again, to study dispersal patterns). Chota Matka lingered at his natal place while Tara Chand moved towards Moharli zone where he died due to electrocution. Chota Matka was still transient, in search of territory and had to fight it out with bigger and dominant males such as Matkasur, Tala, Rudra and Mowgli.
In March 2018, Choti Tara mated briefly with Bajrang from Moharli zone, whilst she also mated with Matkasur around the same timeline. Choti Tara delivered her third litter of 3 cubs in the mid of 2018 – 2 females and a male. The male, Taru Dev, hung on for a while before he too vanished without a trace.
Matkasur’s reign was on the wane, with pressure mounting from younger and stronger males. He slowly moved towards the northern part of the park, beyond Kolara while Rudra gained control of Choti Tara’s territory at Jamni. He fathered her fourth litter of 3 cubs in 2020, one out of which went missing. The other two female cubs Roma and Bijli were successfully reared to sub-adulthood, and they carved a territory out of the mother’s.
By the monsoons of 2021, Chota Matka was mauled badly by Mowgli, a fight that disfigured him for life; Mowgli was ruling a sizeable portion of the North-Eastern part of Tadoba towards Alizanja and Kolara buffers. Like his father did, Chhota Matka fed on the cattle along the fringes and regained health quickly, and launched a spate of attacks on Mowgli, his prime nemesis. In April 2022, Chhota Matka had the upper hand; he injured and exiled Mowgli and claimed the entire territory of Mowgli. He later killed the cubs of Jharni, fathered by Mowgli, and she now has cubs of his own blood. He claimed two other females, Babli and Bhanushkindi, further promoting his bloodline and that of his mother and grand-mother.
Choti Tara delivered a litter of 3 cubs, her fifth, in early 2022. But it seemed that the litter died soon, probably killed by Yuvraj or Tala who respectively mated with Choti Tara. By the end of 2022, Choti Tara delivered her sixth litter, the number of cubs were unknown. However, an interesting incident happened in April 2023, in connection with this litter.
In the preceding months, both Bijlee and Roma became dominant tigresses and they ousted the mother; she was pushed to a corner of her once vast territory. Roma gave birth to two cubs while Bijli gave birth to two cubs, both litters fathered by Yuvraj. It seems that one of Bijli’s cub perished and in a unprecedented turn of events, Choti Tara’s lone cub (a few months older than Bijli’s) was seen with Bijli and her lone surviving cub, in April 2023; it seems that she adopted the cub. This CT’s cub seemed to have formed a strange bond with Bijli cub; so much that even after a year, they are still together; notoriously known as mama-bhanja (uncle-nephew).
The story of Choti Tara was heart-breaking though. She was already 14 years old and couldn’t probably conceive again. Her groaning – calls for the cub was futile. She didn’t venture deep into her erstwhile territory, possibly, not wanting to engage her daughter.
Conspicuous of Maya’s disappearance, Choti Tara started to control a major chunk of Maya’s kingdom, sandwiched between Roma’s and Bijli’s territories. It infused a fresh leash of life for Choti Tara, who still seemed to have some mettle. Fortuitously, Choti Tara delivered her seventh litter, a rarity for a tigress in wild, of three cubs in March 2024; her newest, at 15 years of age. This litter is fathered by Mowgli.
Choti Tara’s journey is starkly contrasting with that of Maya’s (another famous crowd-puller at Tadoba) like that of their famed ancestors – Tara and Vasanti respectively. As fate would have it, Maya was unsuccessful in establishing her legion, thanks to the ever-growing males who couldn’t establish dominance for longer periods. With no direct descendant (female), Vasanti-Nira-Maya line has ended. It is possible that Vasanti-Mallika (Katezhari female) line might still be surviving, nevertheless.
Choti Tara managed to pull off the last heist, conspicuous of Maya’s absence; keeping alive the Tara-Choti Tara line. The Tara-Madhuri line is only getting stronger and Tara-Sharmili line is possibly continuing too.
In a twist to the tale, the story of Choti Tara and her litter taking over Tadoba/Kolara range makes her one of the most prolific tigress in the history of Tadoba, with an interesting anecdote - most of the tigers and tigresses in Tadoba today are descendants of Tara (mother of Choti Tara), the unsung hero of Tadoba. It is through her two daughters, Madhuri and Choti Tara that her (Tara’s) tribe rules Tadoba – making this a remarkable story of the tigresses that put Tadoba on world tiger map.
