Two sisters from Nepal, Manju and Sushila Mahatara, played a key role in helping the crew of Tiger Island find and film wild tigers, one of the hardest animals in the world to see in the wild. Their work drew on local knowledge of the land and its wildlife, the kind of expertise that outside filmmakers often depend on but rarely see credited.
Tiger Island is a two-part miniseries produced by The WNET Group for PBS and included in the network's Nature series. Nature is among PBS's most-watched primetime programs, which gives the production a wide American audience. The two episodes are set to premiere on Wednesdays, October 21 and October 28, 2026.
The sisters' contribution goes beyond guiding the camera crew to an area. Their familiarity with local wildlife helped the team identify where tigers were likely to be and how to approach filming without disturbing them, a challenge that makes tigers difficult subjects for any documentary. Tigers are shy and move across large territories, so the work of finding them rests heavily on people who understand the terrain and animal behavior.
The miniseries highlights a theme that runs through much of modern wildlife filmmaking: the value of local experts whose skills are essential to the final footage. By bringing the Mahatara sisters into the spotlight, Tiger Island underscores how documentary work depends on the people who live alongside the animals being filmed.