One of the world's most documented big cats

Panthera tigris tigris

ENDANGERED

Tadoba Andhari National Park

She is the enchantress and queen of Tadoba!

Part of a four cub litter born during the monsoons of 2010, sired by Nira (aka Bala) and the Hilltop male; their third litter in Pandharpauni, Maya has blossomed from a cub coping with the loss of her mother to a queen whose glory surpasses the boundaries of Tadoba. Maya lost her mother, Nira, very early to snake bite (presumably) but she has since then grown up to take over her mother’s throne and has now expanded it to cover the largest territory in the national park.

This is the story of Maya.

Every wildlife enthusiast, at some point, dreams of spotting a royal bengal tiger in the wild and there is no better place than in India with its numerous tiger sanctuaries of varying climes and terrain. Among all these there is one, almost at the heart of the nation, the jewel of Vidarbh, “Tadoba National Park and Tiger Reserve”. Also known as the "Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve" it is the oldest and largest National Park in the state of Maharashtra and one of 47 Project Tiger reserves existing in India.

Tadoba is a jungle where, early in the day, the sun follows one like a lodestar through the tangled heads of the trees and as the day progresses it burns with a blinding exquisiteness that makes us shield our eyes and bless our existence. The light is lustrous in the open spaces and seemed undistllled from heaven to earth seeming like a laser show at times as gem clear beams filter through the trees. The warmth of it settles over our faces like a silken mask and life is a golden joy. That is the thing about the seraph-light of this jungle; it can sweep down like the handloom of the gods one moment, pure and clear and long of line as it does here over Maya.

Tadoba lies in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state, once ruled by the Gond Kings in the vicinity of the Chimur Hills, and is approximately 150 km from the closest major city, Nagpur. The total area of the tiger reserve is 1,727 km², which includes the Tadoba National Park, created in the year 1955. The Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary was formed in the year 1986 and was amalgamated with the park in 1995 to establish the present Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. The word 'Tadoba' is derived from the name of God "Tadoba" or "Taru," venerated by the local adivasi (tribal) people of this region and "Andhari" is derived from the name of the river Andhari flowing in this area. Legend holds that Taru was a village chief killed in a mythological encounter with a tiger. Taru was deified and a shrine now exists beneath a large tree on the banks of the Tadoba Lake. The temple is frequented by the adivasis between the months of December through January.

The park is open to visitors from October to June every season and remains closed every Tuesday. It is divided into three separate ranges - the Tadoba north range, Kolsa south range and the Moharli range sandwiched between the two. There are two lakes - Tadoba and Kolsa - and a river which are replenished by the monsoon every year sustaining the wildlife in the park. Rich in flora and fauna the vegetation is southern tropical dry deciduous and covers about 630 km². Teak and bamboo are prominent and the northern and western parts of the reserve are hilly and dense with deep valleys and a sprinkling of lush meadows. Home to some of central India’s best native woodland bird species, about 181 including endangered and water birds, the park also boasts leopards, sloth bear, the Indian bison (Gaur), Nilgai, Dhole, Striped Hyena, small Indian Civet, numerous Jungle Cats, Chital (Axis Deer), Sambhar, Barking Deer, Four-horned antelope, Marsh Crocodiles, a profusion of Langurs and Rhesus Macaques and a good measure of reptiles like the Indian Python, Cobra and numerous other species. Tadoba, unfortunately, also has a high rate of man tiger conflict. Several instances have also been reported of wildlife killing domestic livestock and there are villages still within the forest contrary to the efforts of the Forest department so we were told. Note it is man conflicting with nature and not the other way round.

As of May 2020, there were 115 royal bengal tigers, 151 leopards estimated in Tadoba & the surrounding buffer areas. A booming population supported by the incredible and diverse biodiversity making the reserve a paradise for tiger enthusiasts who have the choice of some of the best forest tracks in the country.

This is not a reserve where one will say I saw a bengal tiger, here one will say I saw the Telia Sisters, I saw the huge Matkasur, I saw beautiful Maya, I saw the gorgeous Choti Tara. Tadoba today has probably the highest Sighting Rating Index (SRI) for the tigers in the country with SRI defined as the number of successful sighting safaris vs the total number of safaris undertaken in the last 28 days.

This was not my first visit to Tadoba and neither will it be the last. Read about the intimate encounter with Choti Tara and her cubs in my two part blog about them.

This time however our experience was in October 2021 in the Moharli Range ruled by the enchantress of Tadoba - Maya. There are six gates into the this tiger paradise and we took the Moharli gate, the oldest entrance to the park, located approximately 180 kilometers away from Nagpur. The Moharli range is teeming with wild boar, sambhar and chital, where Maya, a royal bengal tiger, is l'attraction suprême. Nine vehicles are allowed each morning and evening for the safari from this gate. In one of the hardy gypsies, we made our way into the jungle and the farther we ventured, the wilder it got and more animals and birds came out of their roosts to start their day after the night’s rest. Finally we saw Maya slowly making her way through the dense foliage before she stepped daintily out on to the track in front of us.

In the beginning, she was known as P2 or T16 which in time changed to “Maya” which translates to “illusion” in Hindi - an endearing name the guides and trackers use - and she is one of the prettiest tigresses in the sanctuary easily identified by the “trident” marking on her cheek. Maya was born to Nira and the Hilltop male in Pandharpauni in December 2010 - part of a 4 cub litter with two other females and one male cub - P1 (Lata), P2 (Maya), P3 (Chaya) and P4 (Pandu). Unfortunately Nira died shortly after, reportedly killed by snake bite, leaving the cubs without their mother. Maya, as a cub, had a tough time growing up and her worst was still ahead of her but for now Maya grew up strong and took over Nira’s erstwhile territory and expanded it to become the largest territory controlled by a tiger today.

Her allure, elegance & charm have enticed almost all the male tigers in Tadoba to venture into her territory and this trend still continues to this day as in the last three years up to 6 to 7 different males have mated with her. But Maya is particular about her choices and so far she has been known to have mated with the strongest and prime males like Gabbar, Namdeo, the giant Matkasur and Tala. There were even days when she was sighted with 2 to 3 different males in a single day. Through all these comings and goings, she has managed well, having her first litter of cubs fathered by Gabbar, which unfortunately, she lost. Another instance was once after returning from a hunt, she discovered her three cubs were missing and that her territory was invaded by a younger male tiger. Devastated but undeterred, she left her area and went out to the farthest reaches of the sanctuary returning with a former mate to help drive out the intruder. It was also presumed the cubs had died but three months later she showed up with them bringing that story to a happy end.

Maya has given birth to around 12 cubs in total till now, of which 5 were killed by predators. As of April 2021, she has littered 4 times since June 2014. The first litter in 2014 of two cubs fathered by Gabbar was lost to wild dogs after 15 days I think, the second litter in 2015 of three cubs fathered by Namdeo were killed by a male (presumed to be Matkasur) while the third litter, fathered by Matkasur this time, was two cubs - Meera & Surya. Meera, unfortunately, died in an accident and Surya shifted base to Umred - Karhandla, where he has fathered five cubs of his own with a tigress known as Fairy. Maya had her fourth litter in March 2020 when she is rumoured to have delivered 5 cubs for the first time fathered by Tala who migrated north into the Moharli range from the Kolsa Range with his brother Rudra.

Unfortunately Mays’s bad run with her cubs continues as one cub died soon after birth, two male and one female cub have gone missing - supposedly killed by Mowgli. The sole cub (Sanju) has been sighted with her when the park reopened after the lockdown. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) tiger scientist Bilal Habib in an interview with TOI said that “in a high-tiger density area like Tadoba “cubs disperse early”. “This was the case with other tigresses like Sonam and Choti Tara. In April 2021, their team had recorded four cubs during estimation. There are several male tigers in Tadoba which kill cubs for mating rights with females. Maya’s cub Surya from a previous litter was forced out in 2019 when it was less than two years old. Similarly, two tigresses from Kolsa and Tadoba had dispersed to Paoni range of Karhandla. I feel there are less chances that Maya’s three cubs are dead.”

TATR field director & conservator of forest, Jitendra Ramgaonkar, told TOI that the cubs were old enough to kill small prey and that it would be difficult to conclude that the cubs had been killed as they may have moved into non-tourism areas and therefore not seen. He also said it was common in high tiger density areas for invading opportunistic males to kill cubs so they can mate with the tigress.

But despite her bad luck with her cubs, Maya’s allure has had most prime males in Tadoba focusing their attentions on her. This in turn has helped the other females, like Choti Tara & Sonam in their territories adjoining hers, to rear their cubs without being bothered by marauding males hunting mates. This was during a period of crisis and gender imbalance in the tiger community and the fact that multiple females were able to rear cubs was a massive contribution to the over all population of the sanctuary. Maya is not the first tigress from Tadoba to deliver more than 10 cubs. The Katezari tigress, which too had a litter of 5 once, has delivered a total of 15 cubs which have dispersed. Madhuri, another beautiful tigress from the Agarzari range, has delivered 19 cubs since 2010.

Now Maya is a healthy 11 years old and has 10 surviving cubs from her various litters. She has been featured in a NatGeo documentary called the “Tiger Queen of Taru“ and she is the only tiger to have a Twitter handle @MayaTadoba that has updates for tourists on developments in her life and & her movements.

The photos in the gallery below are as she stepped out from the foliage and took in some sun and walked just ahead of us meandering this way and that as we were following her the view is almost exclusively from behind her barring the few times she turned to look one way or the other.

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Update on Maya’s disappearance - December 2023

The burning question now is Maya alive? This information is as of the first week of December 2023. 

1. Maya, at of date, is about 13 years old. The average lifespan of a tiger in the wild is 12 to 14 years. It is possible she is gone but that said… 

2. The territory she occupied is a very high density area when it comes to tigers and there was a time when almost 10 tigers were trying to mate with her. And, unfortunately, in all the chaos she has been unable to protect her last 2/3 litters which could have left her traumatised and induced a change in her behaviour.

3. What I understand, from my conversations with the locals and authorities, is that she seems to be carrying again - her fifth litter. And maybe, in an effort to keep her upcoming litter safe, she’s moved out of her familiar haunts into somewhere safer where there isn’t a crowd - both tourists and tigers.

4. Tadoba is 625 km² of Core and 1100 km² of buffer making it a gigantic 1700 km² of jungle and to search for a single tigress in this rugged terrain is practically impossible.

5. Every year in March the department conducts a detail intensive survey across the region with extensive camera trapping done and foot patrols conducted to canvas the entire forest. So my guess is this is when we will probably have something conclusive unless she shows up earlier on her own. If this search and canvassing is performed now it will disturb the entire area and all wildlife in it not to mention the time intensive effort and extensive manpower it will require - it does not make sense.

6. A recent very similar instance was the tiger from the Brahmapuri range which showed up after a few months in Odisha. For those few months in the interim no one knew where he was. The difference here is the degree of popularity between the two animals. 

7. Therefore I doubt the forest department will make any conclusive announcement about her now as it will be premature. The bones found could not be conclusively identified I am told. So please ignore any wild speculations that are circulating on social media and also refrain from spreading any.

The two surviving cubs of Maya:

1. The first surviving cub is Surya from her third litter fathered by Matkasur along with Meera. Meera, unfortunately, died in an accident and Surya shifted base to Umred - Karhandla, where he has fathered five cubs of his own with a tigress known as Fairy.

2. The second surviving cub is Sanju from her fourth litter in March 2020 when she delivered 5 cubs for the first time fathered by Tala who migrated north into the Moharli range from the Kolsa Range with his brother Rudra. Sanju usually ranges far to the south in the buffers of Mamla and Lohara but he’s also been spotted deep in the Moharli buffers too.

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The tigress is a truly majestic creature. She is the alpha animal in the jungle and for good reason. She moves with a fluid grace that no other animal can match. Padding silently, she can creep up on any creature and kill them with a single swipe of her outsized paws. Once those thorn shaped claws rip at you, it is all but over. She is phantom silent and melts into the bush like molten gold into a cast. When she finds a good ambush site, she lurks in the shadows. Then she waits for prey to pass, observing everything with her glittering, feline eyes. When her target appears, she pounces with a coiled energy that is both fearsome and pitiless.

Understanding what animal calls mean can be hugely beneficial for a wildlife enthusiast, especially since the target subject is a lone master of disguise. When one is in a vast, dense jungle in India, and the tiger one hopes to document could be anywhere in that jungle, the only sense that can be relied on is hearing. Finding paw prints and signs of activity will show what happened on the night’s hunt, but once the animal vanishes into the tangled undergrowth the only way to track it is to stand and listen for a call. Not from the tiger itself, but an alarm call from potential prey alerting their fellow animals to the location of the predator. This is a phenomenon one has to experience, but first, what exactly is an alarm call?

Alarm calls are calls given by animals lower in the food chain, potential prey animals, when they detect the movement of an apex predator. Monkeys, deer and even birds give alarm calls. It is a very short, high pitched and high intensity call. When an apex predator, a tiger or a leopard, is spotted these alarm calls warn the herd that the predator is on the prowl. So when we hear these, we listen for the intensity, how far the call has come from and how reliable it is. What do I mean by reliable? One of the first and most useful vocal indicators are the Bandar Log - Hanuman Langurs, perched in the high branches able to see the predator from afar, who amazingly use a barking alarm call for leopards and a different call for tigers. Their call indicates that a predator is on the move and by finding the direction of their gaze the general direction of the predator can be gauged. Experienced guides can also determine, based on the intensity and tone of the call, whether the predator is a tiger or a leopard. Chital, favourite prey of tigers, quickly respond to the langurs call and begin a persistent barking of their own. And finally one of the most defined calls to listen for when tracking is given by sambar deer, who make a guttural squeak and stamp their feet when they spot the tiger. And when the tiger is out on the hunt this is an explosion of alarm calls from different animals that echoes through the jungle.

With that said hit play, close your eyes and listen to this recording from Tadoba from a few years back. It starts with a Langur hesitantly raising the alarm - maybe he has spotted those dreaded stripes whispering through the tall grass - the dappled light plays tricks. The call is then picked up by the chital and then almost a minute later, a sambhar! Now the tiger has definitely been spotted. The intensity grows, the chital, the sambhar call more fervently and then you hear it!

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