Pujari Passes away

Pujari – The iconic tiger of Bandhavgarh’s Khitauli zone is no more:
He was called Pujari (Priest) , because of his habit of taking a dip in the pool before starting his territory patrol, just like a priest would do before worshipping god.
He was very visitor friendly, never shying away from the safari vehicles on the road.
This was the last time I saw him while he was enjoying a roll after his ritual bath. He was a fully grown dominant male in his prime ( 9 yrs), but in these pictures he looks like a cute young cub.
He was apparently killed in a fight with another male (D1) over a mate (Tara).
Tara’s story is even more complex.
When the previous dominant male, Chota Bheem—Pujari’s brother—was removed to Bhopal due to injury, Tara was raising his three cubs. Those cubs were later killed by another male, probably Yuvraj, who was attempting to take over the territory.
Eventually, Pujari established dominance. But D1 remained a persistent threat, and clashes between them became inevitable.
At present, Tara is raising three cubs—possibly Pujari’s. Their survival, however, hangs in the balance. With Pujari gone, D1 is likely to kill them.
Last week, Tara was seen with D1—possibly engaging in what is known as “false mating” to protect her cubs.
False mating: a desperate strategy 
False mating in tigers is a survival strategy used by tigresses to protect their cubs from infanticide by intruding male tigers. By engaging in this “mock” mating, the mother tricks a new invading male into believing the cubs are his own, preventing him from killing them. It is a vital tactic often used when a new, dominant male takes over a territory.
The crowded conditions in the National Parks are making the ranges of several male tigers frequently overlap, endangering the growing cubs.
A growing crisis  
In the last two decades, as tiger numbers have risen and forest spaces have shrunk, such territorial conflicts have become alarmingly frequent. This is already the fourth territorial death in Bandhavgarh this year.
Another factor intensifying these conflicts is the increasing number of male tigers. Twenty years back we rarely used to see male tigers , but in recent years, a unsusually high number of male cubs have survived across parks, increasing competition for mates.
When male tigers fight, the fights are much more fierce than when the females fight. They aim for fatal bites to the nape, skull, or spine.
The winner claims the territory—and the mates.
The loser either becomes a “floater” a tiger without territory… or succumbs to injuries.
This is going to increase:
With shrinking forests and rising competition, such encounters are only set to increase.
We will, inevitably, witness more deaths like Pujari’s