Parwalli the tigress from beyond

This is the story of the tigress from across the river Ramganga in the Dikhala zone of the Corbett tiger reserve. A tigress who made sighting easy for tourists in Dikhala. She was a tourist’s delight and a Photographer’s darling. It becomes very difficult to be detached emotionally when you see a tiger for 7 years. She has become family. This is an account of my encounters with her over the years.

I saw her for the first time in the summer of 2015 at Paar on the road up to Khanda. She was a good looking tigress . My experienced driver felt she was around 3 to 4 years old then. on that day I got a glimpse of what a poser she was even though she was still shy.

2015 she was seen off and on in the paar area. Then she slowly expanded her territory to include most of sambar road.

By 2016 she was the darling of Dikhala. She ensured that no visitor returned emptyhanded.

In Jan 2016 she had her first known litter. The cubs very sighted only once. Unfortunately, they did not survive the monsoons. She mated again in Jan2017 and people sighted her second litter in June 2017. She had two cubs and again the monsoons took away one of her cubs.

After the parks opened in November 2017 the surviving male cub became a delight to the tourists. Just after the parks opened in November Parwalli had a big fight with another tigress who also considered a part of Sambar road to be her territory. The fight was to retain hold on prime territory and Parwalli emerged victorious but was slightly injured and was seen limping. This caused a lot of concern amongst the regulars as they all knew she had a young cub to feed and protect .

Parwalli’s boldness had rubbed on to her cub as well. The regulars fondly called him Prince as he was the heir apparent to parwalli’s kingdom.

I was not very lucky with him. i spent every safari from Nov 2017 trying to see and photograph the charming prince and got lucky in the month of March 2018. It was a real frustrating 5 months.

In may 2018 the cub was attacked by another tiger who wanted to seize a kill that his mother had made. In that attack the cub was fatally injured .Post the killing of her cub parwalli became a bit more cautious and was not the same Tigress who used to seek out tourist jeeps to give them sightings. She became a bit more elusive and then in the month of Jan 2019 she was again sighted with three cubs. Such was the popularity of this Tigress that all the drivers, guides and tourists erupted with joy as if a new addition had been made to their own families.

All of us saw the mother and cubs in June and then the park closed for monsoons. The monsoons are the most dangerous period for the mother and young cubs. when Nov 2019 arrived we all waited with bated breath wanting to see all three cubs hale and healthy. The first few days people spotted only 2 cubs and then when i went in late November i saw the mother and three cubs together. It was an amazing moment to see four fully grown tigers together and also a big relief to have visual proof that the cubs had survived the monsoons.

For the next 2 years a more careful mother reared the 3 cubs to adulthood . even after becoming careful and a little elusive she was still the darling of the tourists. She and her cubs continued to give unforgettable memories to the photographers and tourists.

March 2020 was the last trip for the season as the park had to shutdown due to the covid 19 pandamic. but the last trip was one where the three cubs themselves had become showstoppers

The new season started in the month of Nov 2020 and the thought on everyone’s mind was have the cubs left the mother?on my first trip in nov when the bridge to paar was still not open i saw Parwalli at a distance near her favourite pool.

By dec 2020 we knew that the cubs had chosen their preferred areas and it was just a matter of time before their mom decided either to fight for her place or leave her territory .

By Jan 2020 the cub in the paar area had firmly established herself there and had also started hunting on her own

Parwalli still visited sambar road to try and show she was still the empress

The cubs still tolerated each other even though they were nearly 3 years old

one cub still preferred to stay with the mother

Again the parks shut down due to the second wave of covid in the month of April 2021. now the million dollar question was would Parwalli be still in her territory when the parks open for tourists in Nov? the parks opened for the new season in November and In the last 45 days she has not made one appearance across her territory so It seems she has given up her kingdom and moved on.

One cub has made sambar road her territory and extended it to include Kamarpatta and the Chuapani area

The second cub has made paar her home

Parwalli successfully raised her three cubs from her third litter to adulthood. It seems the cubs are going to keep the legacy of their mother alive and keep entertaining the guests to Dikhala. some more photos of amazing Parwalli that i have clicked over the last 8 years.