Chronicles of Ranthambhore
REEJA RADHAKRISHNAN
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A day in the life of a tiger can be more interesting than you think. Listen to a tiger speak.
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PHOTO: PAUL NORONHA
Majestic beauty: On one’s own path in Ranthambhore.
Greetings from the jungle! The name is Khan, Sheroo Khan. Would you like to be friends with me? Come with me for a walk on the wild side, to explore forests and swamps, mountains and grass lands, rivers and valleys.
Along the way you can meet all my friends. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has put some of us on what is known as the Endangered Species List. Yes, me too. Tiger population is on the decline world over. Despite some earnest human efforts to save us, the threats simply refuse to go away. My own mother met her end in a poacher’s trap many moons ago. I was with her too but managed to escape. As I always say, Sheroo ko pakad na mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hain!
Come along mates, get your backpacks, off we go on a trip around my home turf. Home to me is the jungles of Ranthambhore in Rajasthan.
Spread over 400 sq.km., my home lies amid the Vindhyas and the Aravalli mountain ranges. Once upon a time, this was the hunting reserve of the maharajas of Jaipur.
In those days, the kings and even our colonial rulers, the British loved to hunt and kill animals like us. My mother used to tell me that my great great grandfather Sher Shah Khan‘s magnificent skin adorned the Fort palace of a raja of Jaipur. In 1973, Ranthambhore was included in Project Tiger, which meant it came to be one of the select areas in the country where measures were taken to protect the tiger species. In 1980, it was notified as a National park which meant all human activity in the area was prohibited.
But, of course, my world is far from safe. In the recent years, poachers have managed to worm their way in and many of my kind including my own sweet mama (god bless her soul) met their ends at the hands of these evil men.
Wild family
As a national park, Ranthambhore used to be one of the best in the country for sighting tigers. If you can brave the desert sun this summer, come over. You might see me or any of my relatives as we cool off in the waters or go across for a drink. Ranthambhore is home to a lot of my friends and extended family. Creatures of the night include leopards, hyenas, jungle cats, jackals and wild dogs. Like me, they hunt for prey in the night.
There’s another night wanderer who is more into berries, leaves and insects. He is the sloth bear. He is really shy; one of these days I’ll take you to meet him. Come dawn, you will find wild boars, langur monkeys and deer of many kinds — the sambar, the chital (the spotted deer), chinkara, nilghai or the blue bull.
On sunny afternoons, you will see Mr. Magarmanch, the croc, on the lakeside basking in the sun. There’s a lot of birdlife too. Peacocks and parakeets are about everywhere. Another feathered friend of mine you might catch a glimpse of is the crested serpent eagle. You will see him perched up his favourite tree branch close to the stream, eyeing the waters intently for a nice juicy bite of a fish!
Ranthambhore is also littered with ruins of old monuments. My favourite haunt is the ruins near Padam Talao, one of the three lakes inside the park. Close by is the Jogi Mahal, which used to be a forest guest house. But it’s not open to visitors anymore. Now the langurs like to believe it is their home! Beside this is the grandfather banyan, the second largest banyan tree in the country.
Before you leave the park, you must trek up the hillock nearby to the old Ranthambhore fort. Built in the 10th Century, what you see now are the remains of what once was an imposing fort built by a Chauhan warrior. So long, until we meet again, Caio!
Drop me a line at sherook@wildmail.com
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