Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore National Park or Ranthambhore is one of the largest national parks in northern India, covering entire area of 392 km². It is situated in the Sawai Madhopur district of southeastern Rajasthan, about 110 km northeast of Kota and 140 km southeast of Jaipur, which is also the nearest airport. The nearest town and railway station is at Sawai Madhopur, about 11 km away. The park is also close to the Kota railway station. RIDCOR operates a mega-highway between Kota and Ranthambhore. Ranthambore National Park lies at the edge of a plateau and is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. It is named after the historic Ranthambhore fortress, which lies within the park.

Ranthambhore was established as the Sawai Madhopur Game Sanctuary in 1955 by the Government of India and was declared one of the Project Tiger reserves in 1973. Ranthambore became a national park in 1980. In 1984, the adjacent forests were declared the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary and Keladevi Sanctuary, and in 1991 the tiger reserve was enlarged to include the Sawai Man Singh and Keladevi sanctuaries.

Ranthambore wildlife sanctuary is known for its tigers and is one of the best places in India to see these animals in their natural jungle habitat. Tigers can be easily spotted even in the daytime. The best times for tiger sightings at Ranthambore National Park are in November and May. The park's deciduous forests are characteristic examples of the type of jungle found in Central India. Other major wild animals include leopard, nilgai, wild boar, sambar, striped hyena, sloth bear, southern plains gray langur, rhesus macaque and chital. The sanctuary is home to a wide variety of trees, plants, birds and reptiles, as well as one of the largest banyan trees in India.

The recent increase in tiger count to 22 with T-9 (Durrah Female) has also been sighted with two of her cubs in the area and that superbly indexed their existence more majestically. Other cubs in the park were also discovered including two female cubs of T-5 (brought up by Daddy), 2 cubs of T-8, two cubs of T-31, 3 cubs of T-19, 2 cubs of T-26, 3 cubs of T-11, 3 cubs of T-30 & two cubs of T-13.

With all these cute cubs attaining their sub-adulthood in the coming years, the park may probably not have sufficient space to accommodate all the fresh species. That is something very interesting news for all the tiger lovers but with increase in count, their safety is the major concern today. The authority needs to extend their space to avoid another Broken-Tail story by effective planning and management.

The stories and life histories of the Royal Bengal Tigers will definitely compel you to be the impressive beholders of these imperial creatures. Let us now dwell deep into the stories and legends behind every majestic occupants of Ranthambore National Park:
India's most-photographed tigress 'Machli' has died in Ranthambore National Park.

Machhli, world’s most photographed tigress, is dead. Known as the queen of Ranthambore National Park, Machhli passed away on Thursday morning after being sick for almost a week. its a setback for several wildlife lovers not only in India but also across the world, The tigress was 20 years old and was known by many names including the lady of the lakes and a crocodile killer.
her fight with the crocodile was highlighted a lot on media and photographs were highly acclaimed worldwide. "Her most famous and remembered wildlife encounter is the one where she not only fought but also killed a 14 foot long crocodile, she is a legend and will remain undisputed queen of Ranthambore even if she is no more. Inspite of being in her prime even in this season she was most sought after as a lot of tourists feel that unless they have seen Machli their journey to Ranthambore remains incomplete," said a park guide adding that almost half of the tigers from Ranthambore belong to her lineage.

In fact her fame is such that she has a postage stamp, several short films-documentaries on her name and even has several Facebook pages dedicated to her. Machli had lost all her canines during her fight with crocodile. She had given up eating five or six days prior to her death. Photographers across the world took immense pride in clicking photos of Machhli. A lot of them even shared her beautiful photos on social media. the worlds oldest tigress who turned 20, and who is often referred to as the Queen of the jungle is no more in ranthambore national park.