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…
The Ranthambhore National Park, which is a part of the much larger Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, lies in the Sawai Madhopur district of eastern Rajasthan. The river Chambal forms a natural boundary of the Park towards the east, and on the eastern shore of Chambal lies the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. To the northeast…