Ranthambore National Park is a 1334 km2 large national park in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is bounded to the north by the Banas River and to the south by the Chambal River. It is named after the historic Ranthambore Fort, which lies within the park.

History

Ranthambore National Park was established as the Sawai Madhopur Game Sanctuary in 1955, initially covering an area of 282 km2. It was declared one of the Project Tiger reserves in 1974.

Features

Ranthambore National Park covers a total area of 392 km2, including buffer zone. It harbours dry deciduous forests and open grassy meadow. The core area is about 275 km2. Ranthambore Tiger Reserve spreads over an area of 1334 km2 at an elevation range of about 215-505 m. Ranthambore Fort was built in the 10th century by Chauhan rulers at 700 ft above the surrounding plain. Inside the fort are three red stone temples devoted to Ganesh, Shiva and Ramlalaji. There is a Digamber Jain temple of Sumatinatha and Sambhavanatha. The temples were constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries. Padam Talao is the largest of the many lakes in the park. A red sandstone Jogi Mahal is at the edge of the lake.

Fauna

Ranthambore National Park hosts over 270 species of birds, including crested serpent eagle, painted francolin and Indian paradise flycatcher.

Tigers

Ranthambore is known for its Bengal tiger population. During the past few years, there has been a decline in numbers due to poaching and other reasons. The number of tigers was 25 in 2005 and 48 in 2013. As of 2022, there were 80 tigers in the park.

Flora

There are over 300 species of trees, including over 100 of medicinal importance. The land features dense tropical dry forest, open bushland and rocky terrain interspersed with lakes and streams. The ecoregion includes Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests.

Ecosystem valuation

Economic valuation of the tiger reserve estimated that its flow benefits are worth 8.3 billion rupees (0.56 lakh/hectare) annually. Gene-pool protection services (7.11 billion), provisioning of water to the neighbouring region (115 million) and provisioning of habitat and refuge for wildlife (182 million) were some of the important services that emanated from the tiger reserve. Other services included nutrient cycling (34 million) and sequestration of carbon (69 million).