Ranthambore tiger reserve and national park pictures of wildlife, maps, train to Sawai Madhopur, tiger safaris, accommodation

Ranthambore tiger reserve's romantic setting, with a 1000 year old abandoned fortress, turquoise lakes and especially it's `friendly' tigers have made Ranthambore a popular destination for wildlife film makers. Tigers are readily observed during daylight, hunting or lazing about, oblivious of jeep-loads of tourists and their cameras. Ranthambore was once the private hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur and it's royal heritage manifests itself in the picturesque hunting lodges, chhatris and old fortifications that dot the park. I have visited Ranthambore two times, during November 1995 and October 1998, and I saw wild tigers on both visits.

Situated between the Vindhya and Aravali range of hills, Ranthambore is one of Rajasthan's last remaining sizeable area of forest and savannah. The terrain changes dramatically from the flat topped Vindhya hills to the sharp and conical Aravali hills. Elevations in the park range from 200 meters to 500 meters above sea level. The landscape is rugged with hills, rocky escarpments and valleys containing lakes and rivers. Ranthambore's forests are of the tropical dry deciduous type and were once part of the jungles covering central India. The most prominent tree in Ranthambore's forests is the dhok, an extremely hardy tree, capable of withstanding prolonged droughts. Ranthambore has a rich diversity of plants and animals with over 200 species of birds, 30 species of mammals including the tiger and 12 species of reptile. Ranthambore holds several permanent lakes complete with lurking crocodiles. The three biggest lakes are Padam talab, Malik talab and Rajbagh. Commonly observed wildlife includes peacocks, langurs, wild boars, spotted deer (chital), sambar deer, blue bull (nilgai), Indian gazelle (chinkara), black buck and crocodiles.

Ranthambore tiger reserve is located in the state of Rajasthan, India. About 130 km to the southeast of Jaipur. The nearest train station is Sawai Madhopur on the Bombay-Jaipur railway line and located 12 km from Ranthambore. Ranthambore tiger reserve covers a total area of about 1300 sq km. The tiger reserve is composed of the core area of Ranthambore national park (275 sq km), the buffer area of Ranthambore national park (130 sq km), the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary, Keladevi Sanctuary, Kualji Game Reserve and other reserves and protected forests. Ranthambore was created in 1955 and originally named the Sawai Madhopur wildlife sanctuary. During 1973 it became part of Project Tiger. In 1980 Ranthambore was declared a national park and in 1984 the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary and Keladevi Sanctuary were added.

Photos of Ranthambore, click on a photo to see full size. All photos © Imtiaz Dharssi

Project Tiger- tiger numbers at Ranthambore

Ranthambore was amongst the first of nine reserves to be included in Project Tiger, launched during 1973. Although it was the smallest of the reserves selected for Project Tiger it was believed that Ranthambore's 390 sq km tropical dry deciduous habitat would be sufficient to maintain a healthy tiger population. Later additions such as the Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary and the Keladevi Sanctuary have increased Ranthambore's size to 1,300 sq km but the core area is only 275 sq km. However, even the core area is not safe as nearby villagers persistently attempt to graze their cattle in the core area. A scientific survey conducted from 1987 to 1988, warns that because of grazing and cutting pressure only about 25% of Ranthambore's declared core area is actually effective. 12 villages that existed within Ranthambore were relocated outside from 1976 to 1979. There are still 23 villages within the Ranthambore tiger reserve with a cattle population of about 140,000. Of these, 4 villages are in the core area with a cattle population of about 50,000 A 1992-1998 survey using satellite data suggests that a recovery started in 1996 of Ranthambore's tree cover and water resources and this has helped to increase tiger numbers.

Duting 1973, the first census at Ranthambore counted 14 tigers residing within the reserve. It was estimated that by 1991, tiger numbers had increased to 45. This was hailed as a huge achievement for Project Tiger. However, some commentators beleive that poachers killed over 20 tigers between 1992 and 1993. They suggest that the true number of tigers at Ranthambore is between 16 and 20. There has been much controversy on the real number of tigers residing at Ranthambore. The 1997 census suggests that there were 32 tigers at Ranthambore. The 2005 census counted 26 tigers at Ranthambore.

Alarmingly, at the nearby Sariska national park, it seems that poachers have killed nearly all the 26 tigers listed there. During February 2005, 300 forestry workers spent two weeks, at Sariska, looking for tiger paw prints, but without finding any firm evidence of tigers.

Click on a photo to enlarge. All photos © Imtiaz Dharssi

Travel information for visits to Ranthambore

Every year over 40,000 people visit Ranthambore. The park is closed for the monsoon season and only open from 1st October to 30th June. The headquarters of Ranthambore tiger reserve is at the town of Sawai Madhopur. Places to stay are spread out on the road between Sawai Madhopur and the park entrance.

• Location of Ranthambore national park:
  • Rajasthan state, India.
  • 12 km from Sawai Madhopur town which is the nearest train station.
  • 130 km to the southeast of Jaipur and the nearest airport.
  • 360 km south of Delhi.
• Maps:

  Rajasthan Jaipur district

  Map of Ranthambore and Jaipur

  Satellite image of Ranthambore and Jaipur

• Getting to Ranthambore national park: Probably the best way to arrive at Ranthambore is to take a train to Sawai Madhopur town. This town is well connected with trains to and from Delhi, Bombay and Jaipur. Outside the train station, waiting rickshaws can get you to your hotel.
  
  

  Train timetable - 2956 Jaipur to Sawai Madhopur

  Train No.	Train Name	Origin	Dep.Time	Destination	Arr.Time	Distance	Days Of Run
  							M	T	W	T	F	S	S
  2956	JP BCT SUPFAST	JAIPUR	14:05	SAWAI MADHOPUR	16:00	132 km	Every Day

  
  
• Access to Ranthambore national park
  • Ranthambore is open from the 1st of October to the 30th of June. It is closed for the rest of the year because of the damage caused by the heavy monsoon rains.
    
    
  • Private cars and vehicles are not allowed to enter Ranthambore.
    
    
  • Organised canter and jeep safaris are conducted twice a day, at dawn and in the late afternoon. Each safari is for a duration of 3 hours. Safaris into Ranthambore are made in open-sided mini trucks (canters) or open-sided jeeps.
    
    
  • Bookings for safaris are made at the Project Tiger office which is located close to the train station. Follow the rail tracks south under the overpass and the office is on the left.
    
    
  • Jeeps bookings can be made 30 days in advance and each jeep can carry a maximum of five passengers. You have to pay for all the seats on the jeep and provide the names of all the passengers.
    
    
  • Only six jeeps are allowed to enter Ranthambore, but five jeeps seem to be permanently booked by the upmarket hotels only for use by their guests. It is very common and frustrating to watch jeeps with only one or two passengers entering the park.
    
    
  • For the independent traveller, jeep booking are difficult. There is a lot of form filling involved during the booking process and the names of all the jeep passengers must be provided. It is very difficult to amend these details later, for example to change passengers or to take an extra passenger on an otherwise empty seat.
    
    
  • Booking a seat on a Canter is usually easy and can be done the day before. Canters can pick up passengers from hotels situated on the road to the park entrance.
    
    
  • Tiger sightings are equally likely with both canters and jeeps. However, Jeep safaris are better since Jeeps can travel deeper into the reserve by using the narrower tracks. Also passengers on canters can be noisy and create litter.
    
    
• Accommodation: Top and mid-range hotels are located close to the road between Sawai Madhopur and the entrance to Ranthambore. The Ankur Resort and the Anurag Resort are two mid-range options, both located about 1.5 km from Sawai Madhopur. The up-market Ranthambore Regency is located about 2 km from Sawai Madhopur. Another mid-range option, the Hammir Resort, is located about 7 km from town. The Ranthambore Bagh offers tented accommodation. A former hunting lodge overlooking a lake, the Jogi Mahal, is The only accommodation located within the park. Budget accommodation can be found inside Sawai Madhopur town.
• Food: Expect to eat most of your meals at the hotel where you are staying since the hotels are so spread out. There are a couple of cheap and grubby restaurants in Sawai Madhopur town.
• Costs: I last visited Ranthambore in October 1998 so prices may have changes.
  Mid-range hotels charge about 400 Rupees per night, a typical meal at a mid-range hotel costs about 100 Rupees.
  Entrance fee to Ranthambore for non-Indian tourists is 100 Rupees per visit per person. Canter safaris cost 80 Rupees per person. A 3 hour Jeep safari costs about 700 Rupees which is shared by the passengers (plus the 100 Rupees per person park entrance fee).
  www.ranthambhore.com lists prices for safaris but I don't know how accurate their information is, safari prices may have increased by about a factor of 5 since 1998.

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