{"id":31631,"date":"2025-06-24T07:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/remembering-indias-iconic-crocodile-hunting-tigress\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T07:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:29:09","slug":"remembering-indias-iconic-crocodile-hunting-tigress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/remembering-indias-iconic-crocodile-hunting-tigress\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering India’s iconic crocodile-hunting tigress"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Cherylann Mollan<\/span><\/p>\n

BBC News, Mumbai<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SachinSachin Rai<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arrowhead got her name from the arrow-shaped stripe on her cheek<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Indian wildlife photographer Sachin Rai still remembers tigress “Arrowhead” pouncing on a crocodile and tearing away its leathery flesh with her teeth.<\/p>\n

Mr Rai had been photographing the iconic tigress in western Rajasthan state’s Ranthambore national park since she was a cub.<\/p>\n

Last week, Arrowhead, also known as T-84, died at the age of 11 near a stretch of lakes in the scenic park, the very territory she had gloriously ruled over in her prime.<\/p>\n

Her death, caused by an illness, was mourned by hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts, photographers and tour guides who had flocked to the park to get a glimpse of her.<\/p>\n

Arrowhead’s legendary status comes partly from her lineage; she is the daughter of Krishna and granddaughter of Machli – majestic tigresses who, once upon a time, dominated vast home ranges in Ranthambore with ferocity. <\/p>\n

They were also skilled crocodile-killers, known to incapacitate the massive creatures by crushing their skulls in their powerful jaws.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SachinSachin Rai<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arrowhead ruled over her vast home range with ferocity<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mr Rai says that Arrowhead – named such by another wildlife photographer after the distinct arrow-shaped stripes on her cheek – took to killing crocodiles after her health began failing her.<\/p>\n

“But even though she was weak and frail, the crocodiles were no match for her,” Mr Rai says.<\/p>\n

Her kills earned her the nickname “crocodile-hunter” by her fans, he adds. In fact, she killed a crocodile just days before her death.<\/p>\n

Though graceful and fierce, Arrowhead had a difficult life, Mr Rai says. She was chased out of her territory by her own daughter, Riddhi, and had to mate multiple times in order to find a place she could call home. (A male tiger shares his territory with his mate, offering her a space to bring up their cubs.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SachinSachin Rai<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arrowhead strolls through her territory in Ranthambore national park<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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\"SachinSachin Rai<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This image captures Arrowhead (right) chasing away a tiger she did not want to mate with<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Arrowhead gave birth to four litters in her lifetime, but not all of her children survived.<\/p>\n

She grew weak after developing a tumour and park official’s would have to bring her food when she couldn’t hunt for days. However, this was stopped after some of her cubs attacked and killed people.<\/p>\n

Mr Rai, who was around when Arrowhead was nearing her end, says that it was heart-breaking to see a powerful, majestic creature become so weak and powerless.<\/p>\n

“I saw her struggling to walk. Every step seemed like an effort and she kept falling down,” he says.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Arrowhead ventured into her daughter Riddhi’s territory – which was once her own – in her last days. <\/p>\n

“Riddhi didn’t put up a fight. She just gave her mother space to lie down and rest,” Mr Rai says, tearing up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"SachinSachin Rai<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Arrowhead ruled over a stretch of lakes in Ranthambore<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cherylann Mollan BBC News, Mumbai Sachin Rai Arrowhead got her name from the arrow-shaped stripe on her cheek Indian wildlife photographer Sachin Rai still remembers tigress “Arrowhead” pouncing on a crocodile and tearing away its leathery flesh with her teeth. Mr Rai had been photographing the iconic tigress in western Rajasthan state’s Ranthambore national park […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31633,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31631\/revisions\/31633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}