Missing Tigers in Ranthambore National Park | 07 Nov 2024

According to Rajasthan's Chief Wildlife Warden, tigers in Ranthambore National Park (RNP) have gone missing since 2023.

Ranthambore National Park is currently home to 75 tigers, including cubs, within a 900-square-kilometer area, resulting in territorial conflicts.
- According to a Wildlife Institute of India study (2006-2014), the park can sustainably support approximately 40 adult tigers.
This recent incident marks the first instance of such a high number of tigers being officially reported as missing in a single year.
- Efforts to reduce pressure on the park by relocating villages from buffer zones have been sluggish, with the most recent relocation occurring in 2016.
Ranthambore National Park:
- Location:
  - It lies in the eastern part of Rajasthan state in Karauli and Sawai Madhopur districts, at the junction of the Aravali and Vindhya hill ranges.
  - It was declared a Tiger reserve in 1973.
- Parks and Sanctuaries Included:
  - It comprises of the Sawai Mansingh and Keladevi Sanctuaries.
- Vegetation:
  - The forest type is mainly tropical dry deciduous with ‘dhak’ (Butea monsoperma), a species of tree capable of withstanding long periods of drought, being the commonest.
- Wildlife:
  - The park is rich in wildlife with tigers at the apex of the food chain in mammals.
  - Other animals found here are leopards, striped hyenas, common or hanuman langurs, rhesus macaques, jackals, jungle cats, caracals, blackbuck, Blacknaped hare and chinkara, etc.