Machali

Machali’s timeline

Machali (T 16) – Ranthambhore’s best known tigress worldwide – Born: monsoons 1997 and still alive at 19 years. Machali (numbered T 16 after 2007) was born in the monsoon months (July-September) of 1997. She was part of a litter of three female cubs born to “original Machali.”  By the end of 1999 she had…

Too close for comfort

“Gemunu” is a wild tusker was born in 1991, part of an elephant herd based in Yala national park of Sri Lanka. Though his mother was vary of vehicles and visitors to the park, Gemunu was extremely tolerant of them. Male elephants have to leave the herd once they grow up and after Gemunu left…

Seasons in Ranthambhore – Summers

Ranthambhore tiger reserve, with its sub-tropical dry climate, has three very well defined seasons – summers, winters and monsoons. Summers start during the end of March and last through the months of April, May and June. During this season the days are very hot and dry, while the nights are warm. During May and June…

Machali – 12 years old, an award winner and fighting fit

On the 24th of April 2009, Machali (Ranthambhore’s most famous tigress) and B2 (Bandhavgarh’s most famous tiger) were given a “life time achievement award” by TOFT in Delhi. TOFT or Travel Operators for Tigers is a pressure group of Travel Operators (http://www.toftindia.org/index.php), Destination management companies and Accommodation providers who aim to make wildlife tourism in…

Machali’s story

“Machali” in Hindi means fish but for regular visitors to Ranthambhore Machali is the resident tigress of the area around the Ranthambhore fort. This area is one of the most scenic parts of Ranthambhore, where three of the six lakes of Ranthambhore are located. Machali is by far the most famous tigress of Ranthambhore and…

Pratapgarh III

Both Dharmendra and Amit have done their Ph.D. in Botany from Jaipur University, so they were very interested in the flora of southern Rajasthan (that’s where Pratapgarh is). I am not very good with my flora, at least compared to the two of them, so it was a great learning experience for me. I do…