Amul's tribute artwork for tigress Collarwali moves netizens to tears

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Known for its light-hearted billboards and topicals, Amul, the dairy brand, recently paid a heartwarming tribute to the now-dead tigress Collarwali. She was India's first tigress to be radio-collared and passed away at the Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on January 15.

Pics from Collarwali's last rites were all over social media and the dairy brand also remembered her with a special doodle. It shows Collarwali with her cubs. "She earned her stripes," read the special artwork alongwith the timeline of her life 2005-2022. The Instagram caption of the post read, "Tribute to Tigress, ‘Super Mom’ to 29 cubs (sic)."

Amul's tribute post for Collarwali has earned more than one lakh likes on Instagram till now. Many also shared loving comments like, "Rest in power warrior," and "Rest in power super female." 

The last rites of Collarwali were performed with full respect by the officials of the Pench Tiger Reserve in Chhindwara district of Bhopal. The gathering attracted a huge crowd on Sunday.

Collarwali, who also earned the title of super mom after giving birth to 29 cubs, lived for 17 years and died of prolonged illness. The average age of a tiger is about 12 years, said Ashok Kumar Mishra, field director, Pench Tiger Reserve. "The post-mortem revealed multiple organ failure due to intestine blockage resulting from old age as the cause of death. Her intestine was blocked with mud and hair," said Mishra.

Collarwali was the first-ever tigress to be radio-collared at Pench. After the collar stopped functioning, she was again radio-collared in 2010 and that is why she earned her name Collarwali or T15 tigress. She had first given birth to three cubs in 2008, but they could not survive. For the last time, the tigress delivered four cubs in 2018, which took the number of her cubs to 29, out of which 25 survived.

(With IANS inputs)