Ranthambore National Park is the largest Bengal tiger reserve in India and is historically significant as the former hunting ground of Maharajas. The park is affiliated with India’s Project Tiger initiative and has a stable tiger population of three dozen or more. The park is a mix of mountains and jungle and is home to panthers, leopards, and other wild animals. The Indian government is spending millions to relocate villages near the reserve to protect the tiger population. Other tiger-rich regions in India include Bandhavgarh, Bharatpur, and Kanha National Parks.
Ranthambore National Park in northern India is reputed to be the largest Bengal tiger reserve in the country, officially established in the early 1970s at the start of a national effort to restore the species. Located in Rajasthan, the reserve is also historically significant for being the former hunting ground of the famous Maharajas of nearby Jaipur. In 2011, it’s a popular destination for photographers and other tourists looking to experience a slice of wilderness.
Ranthambore National Park’s main feature is its affiliation with India’s Project Tiger initiative, which began in 1973 to save one of the country’s national symbols. Since then, the area’s tiger population has reportedly remained fairly stable at three dozen or more. Although the park is controlled by a private company, it receives federal funding to support tiger habitat restoration efforts in India.
A mix of mountains and jungle, Ranthambore National Park and its contiguous reserves comprise approximately 829 square miles (about 1,334 square km) of natural tiger habitat. Mountains jut out across the park, which sits at the nexus of the Aravalli and Vindhya mountain ranges. Several flat mountains called Indala, Chiroli and Doodh-Baht are bare but surrounded by dense jungle inhabited by tigers and other wild animals.
Tigers are just the top of the food chain of fauna found in Ranthambore National Park. Panthers and leopards are quite equal to the tiger in numbers. Their main food sources are spotted deer, sloth bears, wild boars, jackals, hyenas, gazelles known as chinkara and blue bulls called nilgai. The populations of these food sources and the many flora species are carefully monitored and fed to keep the tiger ecosystem thriving.
To further protect the tiger population in Ranthambore National Park, the central government in New Delhi is spending millions relocating village populations residing in or near the reserve. This decrease in human interaction not only further protects the tiger from fur poaching, but also from ecosystem changes that occur when human populations cut down trees for timber. Much of the money has gone into keeping human populations away with the promise of fuel and fresh water. Other efforts have involved installing cameras to catch poachers.
Ranthambore is not the only tiger-rich region in the country, which has around 1,500 wild tigers in 2011. Special tiger trail tour packages transport tourists through different areas on the outskirts of major cities like Agra, New Dehli and Jaipur. Though Ranthambore is the prime habitat, tigers can also be found in Bandhavgarh, Bharatpur and Kanha National Parks.
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