‘Final walk of the legend’: As Tigress Arrowhead dies, Ranthambore National Park, admirers bid goodbye to its queen

“I first saw Arrowhead in the summer of 2015. She was with her brother Pacman, sister Lightning, and their mother, Krishna,” said Mahendra Jain, former CEO of EY Global Shared Services India and ex-EY partner, and now a wildlife filmmaker documenting Arrowhead’s life. “Something about Arrowhead’s presence struck me deeply – she was powerful, composed, and even as a young tigress,” he said.

Wildlife photographer Sachin Rai saw her just two evenings before she passed. She was by the banks of Padam Talab, struggling to move. “It was heartbreaking to see her struggle, attempting to rise and take a few feeble steps before collapsing again. Each movement was a visible effort; even walking ten steps seemed an enormous task. Eventually, she reached a tree and lay beneath it. In that quiet moment, I knew in my heart that the end was near, just a matter of a day or two,” Rai, who has followed her journey since she was a cub, said in the caption of an Instagram Reel he posted, a video that captured Arrowhead, now just a shadow of what she was – frail and tired – walking in slow motion near the lake.

Watch the video here:

 

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A post shared by Sachin Rai (@sachin_rai_photography)

“The last time I saw her was on the evening of Tuesday, June 18. She was walking in a very wobbly manner, completely losing balance. Most of us who know the forest well felt she only had a few days left. We informed the forest department and asked them to keep track. On Thursday morning, they found her near the Jogi Mahal chain road. A post-mortem was done, and I was there for it,” Jain said.

T-84, famously known as Arrowhead.

Rai’s connection to her goes back years. He had photographed her as a cub, followed her through her rise as a mother and protector of her patch. Arrowhead didn’t always have it easy – she lost some of her early litters, faced pressure from incoming males, and was eventually displaced from her own ground by her daughter, Riddhi. But she kept going. Even last year, when her health was already fading, she raised another litter.

“Over the years, she proved to be a remarkable mother. She had four litters in all. Sadly, none of the cubs from her first and third litters survived,” Jain told indianexpress.com. “Her second and fourth litters did better, and five of her direct lineage are alive today. Her fourth litter was recently relocated, which, I believe, deeply affected her,” he said.

In a moving post, the official yet unverified Instagram page of the Ranthambore National Park said, “She was the pride of our forest.” The post was a photo of Arrowhead, dead, and it mentioned that just hours before Arrowhead died, her daughter was relocated to the Mukundra reserve. A strange coincidence. Or maybe not.

Here is the post:

 

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A post shared by Ranthambore National Park (@ranthambhorepark)

Surya Sadasivan, senior public policy professional and a wildlife enthusiast, a regular at Ranthambore, told indianexpress.com that she has seen Arrowhead from her sub adult days. “I still remember the first time I saw Arrowhead as a young tigress in Ranthambore. There was something truly magical about her. She wasn’t the first tiger I’d ever encountered, but she stayed with me in a way I didn’t expect. She embodied the spirit of a true wild tigress – fierce, graceful, and resilient till the very end,” Sadasivan said.

“On June 14, she stunned us by killing a large crocodile. We were shocked she had the strength to do it. She fed a little that day, and a bit on the 15th – I saw her every day after that. But she stopped eating entirely and wasn’t drinking water either,” Jain said, adding, “It was like she had undergone bariatric surgery – she could only eat in small portions, little by little, just like she walked, moved, and lived toward the end – in slow, painful instalments.”

“Even in her fragile final days, she gave us one last glimpse of her strength. Watching her take down a crocodile despite her condition was a powerful reminder of who she really was – the original queen of the jungle,” Sadasivan said, referring to a video that went viral on Instagram, shared on June 8.

Watch the video here: 

Trigger warning: The content could be disturbing for some

 

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A post shared by Phillip Ross (@philliprossphotography)

“In the summer of 2023, she had a frightening encounter with crocodiles in Rajbagh. She disappeared under the water for a few seconds. We thought we’d lost her, but she emerged, shaken, and made it back to shore. That moment marked the beginning of her decline. Yet she was a fighter; she kept proving her strength time and again,” said Jain.

Arrowhead photographed with her daughters Kankatti/Anvi (left) and Chanchal (right).

“One incredible sighting was when she and her three cubs brought down a sambar deer. It was not an easy kill. But even then, she couldn’t eat properly,” Jain said.

We found a video of this hunt. Watch it here:

 

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A post shared by Lakhan Rana tiger tracker (@lakhanranatiger)

A video shared by wildlife photographer Jayanth Sharma two years ago showed Arrowhead in action, hunting a shot shell turtle.

Watch the video here: 

 

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A post shared by Jayanth Sharma (@jayanth_sharma)

Arrowhead came from a remarkable bloodline. She was the daughter of Krishna, and granddaughter of Machli, both legends in their own right. But Arrowhead had something of her own. She was known for her independence, her defiance. She wasn’t the most photographed, but those who did manage to see her never forgot it.

For Jain, the loss felt almost personal. “I’ve always felt a personal connection with her. It’s difficult to explain, but it felt very deep. I lost my mother to a similar illness — even the timeline matched. She, too, struggled for two to three months before passing away on a June 19 — the same day as Arrowhead. In a strange way, it felt like both of them were finally free.”

“I wish I’d had the chance to see her one last time, but I’ll always carry her memory with me. Arrowhead was a legend. Her grace, her courage, and her legacy will live on in the forest—and in our hearts,” Sadasivan said.

We can’t measure what a wild animal means to a forest, or to the people who watch over it. But for Ranthambore, Arrowhead was more than a name on a chart. She was part of the story, from the early morning safaris to the quiet nights when only the forest could hear her.

Now, there’s just silence. But somewhere out there, her cubs still walk. And her story continues.