Ranthambhore National Park, like all project Tiger Reserves in India, shuts down for visitors during the monsoons. Since Ranthambhore lies in Rajasthan – the driest Indian state – it only shuts down for three months of monsoons, from July to September. This is the most dangerous time for the big predators. Due to the monsoon…
Tiger Watch is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) based in Ranthambhore that is headed by Mr. Fateh Singh Rathore. If there is one person who should get the credit for setting up this park, it is this man in the picture below. He came to Ranthambhore in 1960 when it was still the private hunting ground…
Mogiya is a tribe whose members have been hunters since a long time. They mainly inhabit the tracts from Sheopur district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh to the Gwalior district of the same state. This is a long tract of forested area along the banks of the river Chambal – the “bandit”…
About three years ago (when G.V. Reddy left from here after serving as a Field Director) there were around 40 tigers, if not a few more. Reddy’s departure got the poachers active again. Most of the big game poaching here is done by three group of tribal – the Mogiya’s, Bagariya’s and Kanjar’s. Out of…
In the early 2003 Mr. G.V.Reddy left for higher studies to Mysore. At that time, all of us in Ranthambhore were firm in our opinion that there were over 40 tigers (including cubs) in the park. Towards the end of his tenure here, Reddy was promoted as the Field Director of the park. He was…
After the disaster of 1990 – 91, Ranthambhore went through a phase of recovery that took over a decade. According to the State government after the poaching of 1990 – 91 there were 16 tigers left in the park. However, the reality was that there were barely 10 tigers left. Some people who have been…
The end of 1980s was probably the best time for tigers in Ranthambhore. There were over 40 of them – which was amazingly high density for a park that is less than 400 square kilometers. People were coming from all over the world to see tigers. At that time Ranthambhore was definitely the best place…
When the Project Tiger was launched in 1973, Ranthambhore was one of the first 9 reserves that was taken up under the project. At that time there were hardly any tigers in Ranthambhore. Mr. Fateh Singh Rathore of the Tiger Watch, who was the Director of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve for a long time, was in-charge…
Before 1900s most of India had thick forest cover, a lot of prey for carnivores and as a result a large part of India was prime tiger habitat. Some “experts” have estimated that there were over 40,000 tigers in India at the “turn of the century. This may be a bit of an exaggeration but…
By the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, the need for conservation of forests was being felt all over India. The population was growing rapidly and the forests were coming under pressure. In Ranthambhore, the system of “royalty permits” for commercial felling (mainly for firewood and charcoal) of entire blocks of forests…