Ranthambore’s iconic tigress Arrowhead, granddaughter of Machli, passes away

Arrowhead, the iconic Ranthambore tigress and granddaughter of the legendary Machli, has died, leaving wildlife lovers in mourning. Photographer Aishwarya Sridhar paid an emotional tribute, recalling her encounter and the tigress’s tragic decline following the loss of her cubs.

Hyderabad: For those who have closely followed the lineage of the legendary Machli of Ranthambore, Wednesday brought heartbreaking news.

Yes, for avid wildlife lovers—more precisely, admirers of the magnificent Royal Bengal Tiger—the demise of the iconic Arrowhead tigress, granddaughter of Machli, was devastating.

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It was no different for 28-year-old Aishwarya Sridhar, a National Geographic explorer and documentary filmmaker, and the first Indian woman to win the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award in London in 2020 in the Adult category.

She is heartbroken. “We have lost an iconic tigress, and Ranthambore may never be the same again,” she said in a chat with Telangana Today.

“I was blessed to see Arrowhead and her male cub for a full hour alone on my maiden visit to Ranthambore in the last week of May 2025… here she is, in all her glory,” she said, referring to the video she posted on Facebook today as a tribute to the queen of Ranthambore.

In fact, Aishwarya shared one of her breathtaking videos of Arrowhead to offer fellow wildlife enthusiasts a glimpse of what the tigress meant to so many like her.

“She was a tigress forged of fire and fight, her breath a promise to the jungle, her heartbeat echoing for her three small cubs,” Aishwarya said.

“For almost a year, an illness ravaged her body like a slow storm, but she stood tall—every sunrise a battle won—because her three cubs needed her roar, her warmth, her strength,” she added.

“But when humans came and tore her cubs away, the wild wept with her. Her eyes, once fierce with survival, dimmed with a sorrow too vast for the forest to hold. No pain from the disease could break her—but the silence where her cubs once played did,” she said.

“And so, she lay down beneath the trees—her body still, her spirit shattered,” Aishwarya said, her voice heavy with emotion.

“Arrowhead had conquered death for them—until she had no reason left to fight. And in that stillness, she slipped away… not because the illness claimed her, but because love, stolen from her side, had already done so.”