Tucked away between the Aravalis and the Vindhyan hill systems in the Sawai Madhopur district of eastern Rajasthan, Ranthambhore National Park (282 sq km) is a part of the much larger Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (1334 sq km).
The reserve is home to over 50 species of mammals, over 330 species of birds, around 50 species of reptiles and over 600 species of plants. However it is the “relatively easy sightings” of wild tigers that has made Ranthambhore famous all over the world.
The Ranthambhore National Park, which is a part of the much larger Ranthambore tiger reserve, a Project tiger reserve, lies in the Sawai Madhopur district of eastern Rajasthan. It is the only forest reserve in Rajasthan state and in the entire Aravali hill ranges where wild Bengal tigers still exist. Tigers from Ranthambhore have been relocated to two other tiger reserve in Rajasthan to repopulate those reserves. The dry deciduous habitat of the reserve makes it much easier to find and observe tigers in their natural wild habitat.
The Chambal River forms a natural boundary of the Ranthambore national park towards the east, and on the eastern shore of Chambal lies the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. To the northeast of the Ranthambhore national park, flows the river – Banas, a tributary of Chambal, that cuts the tiger reserve into two halves. Across the river Banas, lies the Keladevi sanctuary, while the Sawai Man Singh wildlife sanctuary lies to the south of the Park. Both these sanctuaries, along with the Ranthambhore national park and a few other smaller protected areas, together form the Ranthambore tiger reserve. Today, this Project tiger reserve spans over 1334 sq. km of area, of which 282 sq. km is the Ranthambore national park. The entire Tiger Reserve stretches in a North-East to South-West direction for a distance of over 70 kilometers.
Ranthambhore is where the Aravali and the Vindhyan hill ranges meet and this confluence is perhaps the reason for the rich bio diversity of the Ranthambore. The geological formations of Vindhyan system are characterized by flat table tops locally known as ‘Dang’ , while the Aravallis are characterized by sharp ridges and conical hill tops. An important geological fault line – the Great Boundary Fault – lies at the confluence of the Aravali and the Vindhyan systems – and runs right across Ranthambore national park.
All the Tiger safaris in the Reserve are conducted inside the National park or in the contiguous Sawai Madhopur Sanctuary and Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary. The national park is open to tourists during October-June, while the two sanctuaries are open throughout the year.
Ranthambhore National Park is probably the best place in the world to see wild tigers and is the only dry deciduous tiger habitat in the world.
Till early 20th century there was excellent forest cover almost all over India and exploitation of forests to fulfil local needs had a negligible impact. The forests of Ranthambhore were the private and exclusive hunting reserves of the Jaipur and Karauli royal family, managed by a separate Shikar Khana (Hunting Department). In selected areas of the forests used for hunting by the royalty, grazing and tree felling were strictly forbidden, but there were few restrictions elsewhere.
The Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve is the single largest expanse of dry deciduous Anogeissus pendula Forest left intact in India. Such forests were found all along the North and Central Aravalis but in the last few decades they have been badly degraded and right now this Tiger Reserve is their last strong hold. In Ranthambore the bio diversity is made even richer by the intrusion of the Vindhyan hill system.
The forests are mainly of edaphic climax and belong to the sub group 5B- Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous forests and subgroup 6B -DS1-Zizyphus scrub. The degradation stages found here are DS1-Dry deciduous scrub and SS4 -Dry Grass lands (Champion & Seth ,1968) according to the vegetation map prepared by French Institute, Pondicherry. The area is representative of dry deciduous Anogeissus pendula Forests sub type in association with Acacia, Capparis, Zizyphus and Prosopis species.
Ranthambhore’s unique climatic and vegetational features have given rise to forests that are dry and open with little and stunted ground cover. This makes wildlife viewing relatively easier on the safari. There are over 320 species of birds, both resident and migratory, over 40 species of mammals and over 35 species of reptiles. Due to the dry climate there are not many species of amphibians in Ranthambore national park.
In 1973, when the Project Tiger was launched, Ranthambhore was one of the original 9 reserves to be taken under the Project. By then tigers were on the brink of extinction in and around Ranthambhore. Mr. Fateh Singh Rathore, who was in-charge of Ranthambore when the Project Tiger was launched, is on record stating that, “three years elapsed since the launch of the project, when the first tiger was sighted in Ranthambore”.
The population around the Ranthambhore tiger reserve is mainly agriculturist, pastoralist and labour class, dependent upon the natural resources of the reserve. The tiger reserve has some negative impacts on the population of the adjoining settlements, such as, raiding by wild animals, live stock kills etc. There is a general feeling among the people that the very existence of reserve is creating serious problems in the development of the area.
The national park is open for visitors from the 1st October to the 30th June every year. There are two safaris a day from October to June, one starting in the morning and the other late in the afternoon. Generally speaking, the morning safari starts half an hour after sunrise and the evening safari finishes half an hour before sunset. As a result, the timings change slightly every 2 months or so. Each safari is for a duration of three to three and half hours.
Ranthambhore is dotted with ancient ruins, some which date back to over 1000 years ago. Some of the most prominent of these are the Ranthambhore and Khandar fort, the ancient temples at Rameshwaram ghat, the old tantric temple of Kalaji Goraji and even the old city of Sawai Madhopur. A visit to the local villages, which offers an insight into the life of the rural folks, can be very interesting.
Ranthambhore has over 330 species of birds and we are still counting. A keen birder can easily net over 120 species in 3 days, like Szabolcs Kokay and his friends did. There are some great birding spots outside the park and here one can walk around, which you cannot do inside the park. In fact, some of the best birding areas are on the outskirts of the park.