Satrah-Will she won't she???

Queen in exile: T17

Her life has been an interesting journey full of twists and turns, she has been a fighter and survived many challenges, tactically managed opponents and does remind people of her resilient mother in some ways. The other side of her is a mean tigress who fought with her mother & sisters for territory, an unfaithful lover as she flirted with many males & at times mated with two different males within a gap of few hours. However, she is a devoted mother for sure & there are no divided opinions here.

The news of her giving birth to cubs brought joy to all & given her flamboyant nature people were expecting her cubs to be like mother. However, she had something else in mind, sometime during monsoon of 2012 she left the comforts of lake area & shifted her cubs to Kachida valley, the reasons best known to her only. There were few brief sightings of cubs & then she further moved away to periphery far away from tourism zone though her visits to her old territory continued. Towards end of January, she again appeared in Kachida valley with cubs, this time to get help. She had injured herself badly & was even unable to walk, she sat in front of guard post as if seeking help from forest guards. Her injuries were treated & till the time her wounds healed; she enjoyed the hospitality.

Post recovery she disappeared once again & this time was traced further away from her usual location. The area is notorious & forest officials were worried about her well-being, however all efforts to get her back to safety failed. She is the queen after all and has a mind of her own. She has been staying there for last few months, the staff monitoring her informed me that she is being sighted regularly & looks in great shape and even the cubs are growing well. Like a devoted mom she is taking full care of her kids, in fact she is so engrossed in the task that she has not visited her former territory since last one month.

T19 the current occupant of lakes- (C) Desh Bandhu

During summers as water sources start drying, Ranthambhore is abuzz with speculations of her returning to lakes or at least Kachida Valley & there are multiple reasons for both for and against the idea of her returning. While the water sources will dry in the area, she is residing but not sure what would be her next move. If she returns to Lake, it would result in a confrontation with her sister and the current occupant of Lakes T19. Armed with an army of three fully grown cubs and the king of lakes showing interest in her still, T19 has an edge over her.

However, she is not going to give up so easily, perhaps she is just buying time so that the cubs remain protected. She has been a fighter & this time would be no different. She will return…even if not sometime soon…. SHE WILL definitely.