Ranthambhore - The Tiger Reserve

“There are only two kind of birds that I know – the red one and the brown one. Red one being
Bar-Be-Que and brown one Tandoori chicken” chuckled Mr. Smith only to be slapped on his shoulder by his pretty Anglo-Indian wife. Mr. Smith must be a very brave man to utter this. For Mrs. Smith self described herself as a “Birder”. My bewildered blank look must have given me in for I was immediately lectured for next 30 minutes on the differences between a “Birder” and a “Birdwatcher”. For all you morons, “Birders” are more focused on finding and studying birds than on general observation, and they tend to be more versed in such minutiae as migration timing, routes, reproductive aspects etc etc etc..

However I can only partially agree to Mr. Smith. There are two kinds of birds – I agree. But are Bar-Be-Que and Tandoori not the same thing? Now if you ask me, don’t we call those pretty looking creatures in short skirts, beautiful smiles, angelic faces found roaming in any of Delhi’s malls, Birds!!! This is how I realized for the first time ever that I am a Birder.

We were idling out in one of the three beautifully landscaped gardens of Ranthambhore Bagh, with many full grown trees, which, I must add, is not a common sight in most of the hotels anywhere anymore. It was a hectic yet fruitful day for us. Me and my colleague, Pankaj Singh, reached Ranthambhore Bagh in the afternoon around 2 PM after driving 150 kms on a rough broken road from Jaipur via Tonk and had immediately left for jungle safari in an open “Canter”.

There are two safari’s a day in Ranthambhore, one starting in the morning and the other late in the afternoon, generally speaking about half an hour after sunrise and a couple of hours before sunset. We were lucky enough to find place in one of the canters at a very short notice for the last safari of the day.

There are two modes of transport for Safaris in Ranthambhore – the Gypsy’s (which seats upto 6 people, excluding driver and guide) and 20 seater open safari buses called “Canters”. Our guide, a humble soft spoken person named “Jogi” informed us that in a day a maximum of 40 vehicles, 20 Gypsy’s and 20 canters, are allowed in the park at any given point of time. All these vehicles are attached to the forest department but are owned and run by the locals. Private vehicles are strictly not allowed in the park.

There are 5 different zones, each one numbered from one to five, inside the park and each vehicle is allotted a zone at the time of entry by lucky draw. We are told that vehicles are not allowed to stray from their allotted zones but frankly speaking we saw a couple of Gypsies bearing some other zone number loitering into our zone.

I and Pankaj were lucky enough to get the front passenger seats in the Canter. Not only they provide best of the visuals, we were all ears to the general gossip taking place between the driver and the guide as well. Now these gossips can be real helpful if you believe me. Other than knowing the minutest details of under table settlement that tourist guides have with the forest officials to allot the best zone, they also saved us from getting over excited after discreetly spotting a big four legged creature camouflaged comfortably in the bushes. How else could we have known that what everyone else was so excited about spotting a Bison or a wild Boar, was actually a normal cow idling after having her evening meal?

Our Canter safari started from the foothills of great Ranthambhore palace and gradually we ventured deep in the zone 5 of the jungle. Canter safari turned out to be quite interesting in a lot of unexpected ways. What really made it entertaining was not only the vehicle or the open clear view of the jungle that we got but the star attraction was the group that surrounded us. Most of the people in the group were blissfully dumb in their own unique way. At the last row of the bus, we had a group of five people, probably a family comprising a middle aged couple and three youngsters, who had this wonderful idea of eating oranges and bananas and every damn fruit available, right at the place were population of monkeys clearly outnumbered us. Now being attacked by a whole bunch of monkeys from all sides, jumping on your shoulders and trying to drag you to their group, may sound funny to imagine but believe me – this is not something that you will want to experience frequently.

Then there was that young newly married couple sitting 3-4 rows away from us. The husband was romantically lost talking to her in a hushed voice peacefully oblivious to all the chaos around them. I did try to hear his conversation by really straining my ears but finally comforted myself with the thought that if I did manage to hear the monologue I would know what he was talking about and then I will be as bored as his wife clearly was. She was looking with undisguised interest at all the men in the Canter (including driver and Mr. Jogi). Her companion didn’t notice this. He was probably too busy telling her how he could get down the stars from heaven if she desired so.

We also had an intelligent looking couple (Mrs. and Mr. Umang Singh, who we later came to know were staying in the same hotel as ours), oddly not at all interested into watching the animals and birds into wilderness with their naked eyes, but much more engrossed into trying to locate the spotted animals and birds in a very thick encyclopedia that they were carrying along. As soon as they spotted any animal they used to give a muffed cry of joy and dash right into their encyclopedia. “Hey Darling!!!! See here it is…on page no. 873… the bottom image… ohh hoo not that BIG one you silly…That’s a Brachiosaurus….. And don’t you know they are extinct now…. Hummm…This little fella is called….ummmm….let me check….. Ummm…. a rabbit!!!. Ohh Sweetheart… We spotted a rabbit today…. Ohh how lucky we are…. Love you darling!!! Pooch!!! Pooch!!!”

I recommend all of you to try this Canter Safari at least once a lifetime. No where else you can get a perfect feeling of “Unity in diversity”.

Ranthambhore is beautiful and unique. First and foremost, it doesn’t feel like a Jungle at all. We normally tend to associate a jungle with a very dense area covered with big full grown trees, and a sense of being at risk always. Ranthambhore is opposite. It is not at all dense as there are hardly any huge trees to be spotted and it doesn’t scare you. Rather it is an “ecological island surrounded by farmlands and overgrazed pastures”. You will be surprised to know that Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve is the single largest expanse of dry deciduous Anogeissus Pendula forest left intact in India. It is also the only dry deciduous tiger habitat in the world. Ranthambhore National Park is considered as the best place in the world to see wild tigers (probably because the tigers here are used to being stared at). Ranthambhore is also one of the most filmed wildlife reserves in the world.

The Ranthambhore National Park lies in the Sawai Madhopur district of eastern Rajasthan. It is right now the only forest reserve in Rajasthan state and in the entire Aravali hill ranges where wild Bengal tigers still exist. As we were soon to find out, the dry deciduous habitat of the reserve makes it much easier to find and observe tigers in their natural wild habitat. Out of 1334 Sq. Km of area of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve Project, Ranthambhore National Park covers 282 Sq. Km.

The history of the park goes like this: During the 19th century when there was excellent forest cover almost all over India, the population density was very low and exploitation of forests to fulfill local needs was negligible. During this period the forests of Ranthambhore were the private and exclusive hunting reserves of the Jaipur and Karauli royal family. These forests were managed by the Shikar Khana Department (Hunting Department) of the state. The local villagers were allowed to take many kinds of forest produces in unlimited quantities for their private use, after payment of an annual tax (called Babs). Due to the low population density, there was hardly any damage to these dry deciduous forests.

However by the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, the need for conservation of forests and wildlife was being felt all over India. The population was growing rapidly and the forests were coming under pressure. In Ranthambhore, the system of "royalty permits" for commercial felling (mainly for firewood and charcoal) of entire blocks of forests was taking its toll. In 1955, these forests were declared as "Sawai Madhopur sanctuary" and the practice of sale of forest produce through "royalty permits" came to an end. This was when the forests received their first "real" protection. However, legal hunting continued unabated till 1973 and by then the tiger population was almost totally decimated.

In 1973 a part of this sanctuary came under Project tiger scheme. At that time there were 16 villages inside the sanctuary but between 1976 and 1979, 12 of these villages were shifted outside the sanctuary. In 1980, in order to give greater protection to the forests, an area of 282.03 sq. k.m. of the inner part of Sawai Madhopur sanctuary was declared as national park. Since then the state Govt. stopped collection of any forest produce from sanctuary and national parks.

During the 1970s, tiger sightings were extremely rare in Ranthambhore but by the mid and late 1980s, as a result of the decade long protection given to the forests, Ranthambhore became the best place in the world to see wild tigers.

However again in the year 2002 Ranthambhore tiger reserve attained notoriety for illegal poaching of tigers. Since then the forest authorities became very strict and it was generally felt that poaching was not a serious threat in these forests. By year 2002 the Park boasted of nearly 40 tigers, a density of nearly 10 tigers per 100 square k.m. - which was one of the highest in the world.

But again everyone was taken for a surprise when in 2003 and 2004, a census conducted by a high powered committee showed that there were only 26 tigers in entire reserve and all of them were with in the national park. The other areas of the reserve were totally devoid of tigers. To quote from the report of the Tiger Task Force - "in Ranthambhore, which is now known to have lost a large number of its tigers......the threat of poaching remains...".

In 2005, the Rajasthan and the Indian government set up a series of committees to look into the state of Ranthambhore and to suggest measures to improve the situation. This put the spotlight back on Ranthambhore and the tiger crisis in India (what is now being called the "third tiger crisis") and since then the forest and the police department intensified the protection around the tiger reserve. The good news is that there have been no reports of tiger poaching from around Ranthambhore from the beginning of 2005 and a large number of tiger cubs were born between the summer of 2005 and the summer of 2006. A very detailed census that was carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India using camera traps between 2006 and 2007 showed that there were 31 tigers in Ranthambhore national park.

Ranthambhore is not known only for tigers - it is home to over 40 species of mammals, 320 species of birds, over 35 species of reptiles and over 300 species of plants. (Ref: Dr. Dharmendra Khandal - Bio-diversity of Ranthambhore 2004). Though the park is great for birding but the restrictions that are placed inside the Ranthambhore National park may not appeal to very serious birders, primarily because you are not allowed to walk inside the park.

Not long after we started our journey into jungle we sighted a group of male Sambar deer, identified by the antlers on their head. As soon as we approached them they become intently alert, and stood motionless. Sambar’s are a frightened lot, and they have every reason to be. After all they are the favorite prey species of the tiger. A large Sambar can feed a tiger upto 4 days. Unlike the spotted deer, which shouts an alarm and darts away at the first sight of a tiger, the sambar tends to alertly watch and keep giving alarms until the danger has passed. Jogi told us that Sambar’s alarm call is taken very seriously by anyone interested in knowing the whereabouts of a tiger. A repeated call is accepted as a definite indicator.

We stopped there for a minute or so admiring its beauty and clicking a couple of snaps. Meanwhile Umang and his wife got frantically busy turning pages of their book trying to locate Sambar inside it. The family at the back seat was busy munching a new pack of chips and a seat ahead, after giving a bored look to the mammal, newly wed wife turned towards other male species around. In return Jogi gave her righteously deserved full attention.

We moved ahead.

The driver of the bus, who in due course of time became very friendly with me and Pankaj, started telling us some of the anecdotes and his experiences as a driver for last 10 years in Ranthambhore National Park. Among many other things he also told us about his father who has spent his whole life working at some clerical position in the National park and the respect he commands in the fraternity. I and Pankaj were both enjoying the conversation and the environment in general, except that small little problem. The driver kept turning around to rearrange things on the back seat to give us more space. At the same time he was driving with one hand (although not at a high speed) in a very narrow bumpy road with trees on one side and a deep lake on the other. Every few seconds, Jogi, our guide would shriek as one big branch of a tree or a Neelgai or a Sambar loomed up and filled the windscreen, and he would attend to the road for perhaps two and a half seconds before returning his attention to our comfort.

We were enjoying our ride and had seen a variety of animals including Sambar Deer, Chital, Nilgai, Langurs, Jackals, Wild Boar, Chinkara, A big owl sitting on top of a tree and a group of lethargic crocodiles idling at the banks of a lake, when we all heard a distant yet clear shrieking sound. Jogi’s swift motion of hand indicated us to maintain silence. Everyone obeyed. People stopped eating, turning pages of their encyclopedia, even the bored wife was in all attention. We sat motionless for a couple of seconds and just when we were thinking of start breathing again, came the second shriek. Suddenly all hell broke loose. Without warning our driver took a U turn and started driving at a break-neck speed of 70 kmph in one particular direction. Many other Canter and Gypsies whose existence we were unaware of till now were all visible and rushing from any of the thirteen directions to one spot at once.

(To be Contd...)