28 May, 2018

The Life of Famous Munna Tiger of Kanha National Park

You call him the ‘King of Kanha’ or The Apex Predator - Munna is the oldest tiger of Kanha National park and the living pride of the park. Renowned for its stripes on the forehead that represents the word ‘CAT’ and ‘PM’ (prime male or prime minister), this furious T-17 cat mostly strays and preys in Kisli zone of the park. Despite being quite old, around 14 years, Munna is still a monarch in Kanha National Park and fascinates visitors just the same. In his 15 years of life, Munna has become a human-friendly tiger and is used to of jeeps and humans in his territory. Now, through this blog, we’ll take you on a short journey of his enthralling life, which you probably won’t find anywhere else. So, let’s start!

Story behind His Name

Once Munna injured his hind foot in a territorial fight with another tiger and was limping. That was the time when guides saw him, and his condition reminds them of one of their peers, who was affected by polio, and thus, used to walk with a limp. That’s the moment when the name struck on.

How He Got the Fame?

Don’t be surprised, if you get a chance to catch the sight of Munna and see him walk past the tourist. He is one of those tigers in Kanha National Park who is quite familiar with tourists, and thus, does no harm to them as soon as they are on their jeeps. And what will surprise you the most is that he’ll walk by your side calmly and freely just like a pet (but that does not mean that he is not a danger for you). Munna is one of a few tigers in Kanha National Park that entertains visitors the most. Unlike others, he does not sense any danger while being around humans, and this is the reason you can even see him sitting right beside your jeep with no intention to harm you.

Moving forward to Munna’s popularity, back in his initial days of the ruling, he was known as an astute preyer who would hunker down, wait patiently and then conquer his target. Not just this, he was also the accused on many human-wildlife conflicts occasions in Kanha National Park where many locals ended up losing their life as a result of attacks by Munna. Back then, he was such a brawny tiger that sometimes he even killed other tigers and their cubs to eat them. Apart from being an apex predator, he was also recognized as a great warrior who can fight with anyone with all his might for defending his territories. As a result of his valorous behaviour, he sometimes ended up getting severely injured in a fight with other tigers. For him, these injuries were nothing in front of his bequest and so thus, he kept on fighting and killing other tigers over territories along with preying solely. His reigning and defending legacy made him the star entity of Kanha National Park and he eventually becomes one of the most photographed male tigers in India.

As per the park officials, Munna makes Kanha National Park world-famous, and thus, he is the rockstar of the park. According to them, he also has a son - Chota Munna - the one who killed the famous Bheema in order to rose to fame (seems like Jr. Munna is getting ready to further take on the legacy of his father), certainly he has acquired that trait from his father.

In his lifetime, Munna has indulged into a number of territorial fights and has killed tigers, in numbers almost double of his age. Last year, he was in highlights when he killed one of the cubs of a tigress, T-59. As a result of this, he got into a fight with tigress for three long days.

When He Gone Missing?

This year, in January, the senior tiger dodged away from the eyes of forest officials, as per the forest authority. This incident came as a result to avoid any brawl with other young tigers, T-56 and T-2. Both the young tigers were sharing the Karai Valley and Kisli Zone with Munna, and hence, these young tigers were a danger to Munna. As per the officials, earlier also Munna took refuge in the buffer zone after a territorial dispute, thus, there were chances that this time also he has fled to the buffer zone. But after few days he made a comeback to his kingdom.

Current Condition of Munna

Today, Munna is the oldest tiger in Kanha National Park and is 15-year old. The age factor made him less capable of defending himself over other young tigers in a fight. And now when he’s very well aware of his condition, he takes refuge in the park’s buffer zone whenever he senses any danger in his territory to avoid any peril with young, who undoubtedly has more strength and are more furious than Munna. Last year in April, as per the forest officials, Munna took refuge in the park’s buffer zone after getting injured in a territorial fight with T-59.

Danger from Humans and Young Tigers

Since Munna takes shelter in the buffer zone of the park to avoid any territorial fight, the forest officials have been in extra cautious for his health as he is oldest and is the pride of Kanha National Park. But as a result of refuging in the buffer zone, Munna is also a potential threat to locals who’re residing in the nearby villages. This whole thing somewhere also leads Munna in danger, and thus, the forest officials are taking necessary steps along with monitoring Munna’s movement to prevent human-animal conflict.

Certainly, his undisputed legacy told everything about this rockstar. The story of an undefeated warrior - Munna must have surely left you astounded and made you one of his biggest fans.