The Ghost of Mukki
He’s called so, for he remains ever elusive and only chanced upon, at times. He’s the formidable king and a canny tyrant who systematically captured an entire kingdom for himself from the Fab Four – Kingfisher, Bheema, Chota Munna and Umarpani himself.
Since I am not allowed to reveal the location where we spotted him, I can just say that he now owns the entire breadth of Mukki, pushing his half-brother and the indomitable Chota Munna away from his previous territory.
A living legendary specimen carrying the spirit, ruthless power and the immensity of the Kanha male tigers, Umarpani has a fabled lineage.
Tiger numbers of most tiger reserves sprung to the current population from a single legendary matriarch, which raises a question about the tiger numbers that must have touched the nadir, at some point of time (most likely, the 80s and 90s) when poaching was rampant.
Earliest known records point to the matriarch called Banseri from the Kanha/Kisli range, three decades ago. Banseri along with her mate, Langda created one of the cradles that spawned the most impressive line of tigers of Kanha. Banseri fostered a few impressive lines. One is the Lakshmi – Churi – Mundi Dadar line, and another one is the Sonapani – Umarpani.
Lakshmi, the daughter of Banseri is generally viewed as the grand matriarch of Kanha. She was also the protagonist of the BBC Documentary: David Attenboroug’s Wildlife Specials – Tiger.
Sonapani was likely the daughter of Banseri. She mated with Banda, one of the most impressive and hefty personalities of Kanha, to give birth to 3 female cubs around 2004. One of them was the famous Umarpani female (a tigress with the stature of a male).
Umarpani female gave birth to three cubs, two males and a female, of which only one is surviving; none other than the great Umarpani himself, fathered by Munna.
The lineage of Munna, Umarpani male’s father, is not so clear like that of Umarpani’s mother. He was probably born to Limping male and Minkur female, also called Badi Mada (or her mother Heart Shape female). Another impressive tiger Konda was perhaps sired by Minkur female or Heart Shape female, fathered by Gaur Singh. It is likely that Konda was Munna’s half-brother. Further details, backward, appear very sketchy on Munna’s lineage.
Though many argue that Chota Munna (half-brother of Umarpani male) is similar to Munna, I think, Umarpani has much closer semblance in character, at the least.
Like Munna expanded and ruled his territory ruthlessly, by eliminating every big male (the likes of Konda) that challenged him, in his heydays; Umarpani, in his prime, is now the undefeated Emperor of Mukki. His archnemesis, Chota Munna has been pushed further away from his own territory, who in fact wishes to avoid the unrelenting Umarpani.
Probably, a day will come when Chota Munna, yet to reach his prime, would force Umarpani into a retreat, but today, at this moment, the Ghost walks and owns Mukki.