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Tigers of Central India
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Tigers of Central India
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Some interesting words from a man who has been photographer Kahna and C. Indian Tigers for the past 25 years
Sharad Kumar Vats Umarpani male, Kanha June 2015. See him full screen.  *This image is copyright of its original author Sharad Kumar Vats RajaRam leaves Kanha just before Diwali. RIP my friend. Thank you for all the good times.  *This image is copyright of its original author Here is what he had to say on UMA, KF, Bheema, Munna and more.... The Biggest Tiger of Central India; the Umarpani Male of Kanha National Park Tigers of Kanha are known to be big in size. And, i am putting my neck on the block by making such a statement. But having observed Tigers for close to 28 years in many nationals parks (specially in the Central India highlands) i think this guy has it all going for him as far as size, strength, and stealth is concerned. Umarpani male, slightly premature to crown him as the future King of Kanha as there is some serious competition on the cards from Chotta Munna who is taking his father’s legacy very seriously.
A lot of this has to be dedicated to his genes. His forefathers have been dominating Tigers in Kanha for past generations. Let us see which lineage does he come from.
The lineage of Umarpani male:
Father is Munna, the legendary Tiger who has CAT spelt on his forehead. At 15 years of age, Munna is still controlling the main tourism zone of Kanha. The world knows him, and he needs o further introduction. Munna’s father also known as the Limping male was one of the dominating and a huge Tiger before Munna.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Limping male, father of Munna, and grand father of Umarpani male  *This image is copyright of its original author Munna, father of Umarpani male, photo by NarenMother is Umarpani female, the daughter of Banda, the dominant male Tiger of Kanha before Munna, and Sonapani female, who in turn is the sister of legendary Laxmi (not same litter). This is the reason for her size. Her size confused people with a male Tiger quote often. So her genes come from dominating male and popular Tigresses of Kanha.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Umarpnai female, daughter of Banda and mother of Umarpani male,. Photo by a past guest of ours.Umarpani male:
He was born around Nov 2009, they were two brothers and sister in the litter. The other male cub was even bigger than him. He was shaping up well until about 2 years old when tragedy struck. When and where he disappeared alongwith his sister none know. Umarpani male is the smaller of the two brothers. At times i wonder if his brother was around what would have been his size.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Umarpani male in 2014 (5 years old)My first sighting of Umarpani male was in December 2014. I mostly followed him from behind, and only for few seconds i was able to take some of his side flanks. He was about 5 years at that age. His muscular build was very obvious.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Umarpani male in June 2015, 6 years oldThen i saw him in June 2015. Behold, I was in a state of shock when he turned to look at me. I skipped a heartbeat or two. Never before any Tiger seemed so big to me. From close quarters lot of Tigers look big. But this fellow’s largeness was evident even from a distance. It was not only his size that stole my heart, but his looks, and presence are of a killing machine. I am not sure how many people have had the opportunity of photographing Umarpani male for 30 minutes or more. But after that sighting i thought if i do not see Tigers for next 2 years i am fine, as i thought i had seen the best.
Who is bigger Munna or Umarpani male?
Today when i sit back and compare both these big Tigers, Umarpani male outshines Munna very comfortably in size, and semblance. And this i am comparing Munna in his prime. The skull of Munna is big, but Umarpani male’s skull is bigger, wider, and with a larger circumference. Though the height and length of both would be similar, but sheer compactness and crassitude of Umarpani puts him in a class of his own. His overall bone structure, bigger limb bones, and wider skeleton puts him on a pedestal where his huge father starts to look minor in size compared to him.
After all Umarpani male has the advantage of his mother’s genes as well. She was one of the largest Tigress of Kanha ever.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Umarpani male; the sheer size of his skull is matchlessUmarpani vs Bheema
Bheema is thinner, infact much thinner compared to Umarpani male. They might seem to be of same height and length but girth wise Umarpani male outclasses him. Bheema’s bone structure is lean, smaller frame compared to Umarpani. And his skull lacks the monstrosity of Umarpani. Bheema weighed 225kgs when he was just 2.5yrs old (vs Jai 220kgs full grown). Bheema with his winter coat would be 280kgs plus, and yet Umarpani male outmatches him in summer. Now again for a moment think about Umarpani’s brother who was even bigger than him. What a loss to Kanha by his mystifying disappearance.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Bheema, June 2015Umarpani vs Rajaram (Kingfisher)
I have been a fan of Kingfisher too as he was a peaceful Tiger who in terms of size looked similar from a distance. He like Chotta Munna gave ample opportunities to tourists to see him from close quarters. But as one would look at him closely he seemed like a Tiger on steroids. He was shorter in height compared to Uma male. Maybe hence he lacked the core muscles and his belly literally touched the ground. Length-wise also he was smaller than Bheema and Uma male. When someone saw him with a full belly he looked like a big Tiger, while he was actually a big belly Tiger. Also from the Tiger point of view he did not have the cuts and contour of a competitive cat. He seemed to be lot of fat, and lacked muscular manifest.
The fatal fight, October 2016: Umarpani male vs Rajaram
Umarpani had a close skirmish with Rajaram in January 2015, wherein he got Rajaram to retreat. Though both seemed to have some injuries, but Rajaram left his area, and stayed away. So Uma male had a measure of him from the past fights while Chotta Munna did not. So had it been Chotta Munna in the territorial fight even he would have sustained injuries. But Uma male had the knowledge of the mass and might of Rajaram so it was most likely him, and only him who could have given the fateful bite.
Another point that would point towards this direction is that the fight most likely did not last long. Uma male nailed him fast and furious, cause had it lasted long even Umarpani male would have sustained injuries, which he did not. He was sighted a couple of days later moving quite briskly by the forest department.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Rajaram aka Kingfisher male  *This image is copyright of its original author Rajaram and Umarpani male in a territorial fight. Photo by Naren MalikAbove fight between the two was in January 2015.
No one has any evidence of the fight of October 2016, as it was seen by none. But the past records, and strength of Umarpani male tilt indication towards him. He usually avoids limelight, and prefers giving the tourist vehicles a skip. Uma male is mostly sighted crossing the tracks, even if he follows a vehicle it is not for a great distance. But this behavior might undergo some change now and people might start seeing him more. As killing Rajaram has given him extra expanse in territory, and confidence for sure.
Umarpani vs Chotta Munna (Link 7)
This will be the comparison for the future, or fight for the No 1 slot. Chotta Munna has the attitude of his father. He has gained in size over last 4-5 months. But being younger to Umarpani male would most likely be a tad deficient in strength as on date. But Chotta Munna seems to be catching the eye balls of everyone as he is one tourist friendly Tiger. On the contrary Umarpani male is shy.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Link 7 Tiger Photo by Naren MalikWith Rajaram out of the equation, it is but natural that Umarpani and Chotta Munna will expand their territory. It cannot now be ruled out that Kanha might witness another superiority sparring between these two males in the near future. It is unlikely that anyone will lose easily without giving the other some serious agony. I would pray that they both survive in case such a situation arises, as both are very strong contenders to be the next Legend of Kanha after Munna. May the strong genes of Tigers of Kanha prosper far and wide.
 *This image is copyright of its original author Umarpani maleI would like to thank Minh Ha and Naren Malik for providing some crucial information on lineage, and Naren for some images as well. A special mention here for Minh Ha whose knowledge on Tigers of India is nothing short than encyclopedic. He is an inspiration to many.
Best Wishes
Sharad Vatshttp://naturesafariindia.com/blog/bigges...ral-india/ A side note, I just asked who was larger between Katezari and Link 7, and he said with out a doubt, it was Katezari. Katezari is huge... So that gives you an idea of Wagh/Katezari Size as well. He took this famous photo of Katezari  *This image is copyright of its original author and this one of Link 7  *This image is copyright of its original author He has also seen Matkusar male and says that he and Link 7 male are about the same in size  *This image is copyright of its original author He saw matkusar after his fight with gabbar, said gabbar thrashed him and is probably a little larger than Matkusar. |
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