On Global Tiger Day, Manish Kalani celebrates his new book about a family of tiger fish
Authored by wildlife photographer and conservationist Manish Kalani, this new coffee table book titled ‘Warrior Queens of Ranthambhore’ celebrates his travels over 10 years since Manish visited Ranthambore National Park. His book is dedicated to the fascinating stories of the legendary Machli and her family over the years.
A tigress named Machli died in 2016
Today as the world celebrates Global Tiger Day 2024, India has always been one of the most preferred places to see tigers. From Kanha National Park to Panna Tiger Reserve and Satpura Tiger Reserve to the very famous Ranthambore National ParkAnd we consider some of these big cats no less than celebrities, one of them being Machli – who can be spotted in T-16 at the famous Ranthambhore National Park.
fishThe world’s oldest tigress passed away in 2016 at the age of around 19. Machli has been a gift to most wildlife photographers who have captured her pictures. Carrying forward her legacy is the latest coffee table book ‘Warrior Queens of Ranthambore: Riddhi, The Reigning Queen’ Manish KalaniFish’s family tree has been captured, a project that Manish had envisioned. “For eight years I kept capturing his family and recently I thought of putting it all in a book, which will be a tribute to the great Fish” said the ace photographer. The book features Fish; Fish’s daughter Krishna, Krishna’s daughter Arrowhead, Arrowhead’s daughters Riddhi and Siddhi, Fish’s granddaughter Noor, Noor’s daughter Noori, and Laila and Ladli.
This book is India’s first and only wildlife coffee table book dedicated to five generations of Ranthambore tigresses. With this book, Kalani has become the only wildlife photographer who has undertaken a project to compile the life journey of all these tigresses in a book.
Kalani’s book is filled with anecdotes from eight memorable years, but his favourite story is about the queen of Ranthambore, Riddhi. “I was shooting in Ranthambore when I saw Riddhi, who was just 10 days old at the time. My daughter’s name is Riddhima, and when I posted those pictures on social media, I named the cub as Riddhima too. Later, the forest department formally named her Riddhi. I often say that I have two daughters, one lives in New York and the other in Ranthambore,” Kalani said. His relationship with these tigresses is very personal, creating a bond that will last a lifetime.
The book is a project of Kalani’s passion for wildlife and the photographs in the book are a result of over eight years of hard work and dedication and pay tribute to the legacy of the tigresses of Ranthambore who ruled their territory for almost two decades.
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