Jaipur: The Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar Rajasthan has come up with country's first tiger memorial dedicated to its Rajmata, tigress ST-2 who repopulated this reserve with a family of 34 tigers.
“Sariska has been repopulated thanks to tigress ST-2. The STR has 48 big cats, and 34 have come from the tigress' family. It gave life back to Sariska from the brink of extinction,” said forest minister of the state Sanjay Sharma, unveiling the memorial which has statues of the tigress and cubs on Sunday.
He announced to observe 'Sariska Tiger Day' honouring ST 2, the Rajmata and said that this statue is not only a tribute dedicated to the tigress, but is also an inspirational symbol towards wildlife conservation. ST-2 lived an extraordinary life and created a whole family of tigers in Sariska. So from now on, every year 'Sariska Tiger Day' will be observed in the memory of Rajmata.
Tigress ST-2 was trans located to Sariska project area from Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in the year 2008 when STR had lost all its tigers due to poaching.
Born in April 2004 as the offspring of the famous tigress Machli T-16 and tiger T-2 of Ranthambore, ST-2 carried forward India's most prestigious tiger lineage. With an extraordinary life of 19.8 years, she was India's oldest living tigress who passed away in 2024.
Forest minister said that because of the contribution of ST -2, the STR has become a nursery of tigers and soon Sariska will not only become self-sufficient but will send tigers to other reserves.
