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> Wildlife Sanctuaries in India
> Ranthambhore |
| Ranthambhore National Park |
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Legends |
| Villagers in the fort still believe that when
the ramparts had to be built higher, the mortar was mixed using
blood from brave and fallen warriors. The fact is that many
that died on the walls were buried where they fell.
As a result of quarrying for stones to build up the ramparts,
water collected in the resultant depression. Over the years
this became a reliable source of water for defenders and the
water is still potable. However, the priest at the temple
scoffs at the idea. According to him, Sita was thirsty when
she accompanied Lord Ram into the forest and he therefore
shot an arrow into the ground from where a gush of water emerged.
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Conservation Notes |
| More than 25 tigers have been lost to poachers
in Ranthambhore between 1991-1995. Though the slaughter has
now been checked thanks to the tremendous effort of Divisional
Forest Officer G V Reddy (winner of the Sanctuary Magazine Millennium
Wildlife Service Award), poaching is still a serious problem.
The wildlife trade in tiger skins, bones and body parts yields
large profits and punishment is slow and inadequate. Additionally,
quarries, mines, roads that bring "development"
into tiger habitats are nightmares for the protectors of Ranthambhore.
Having deforested their own habitats, surrounding villagers
now look towards the forest to graze their livestock and to
steal fuelwood, which costs residents of Sawai Madhopur less
than bottled LPG (cooking gas) cylinders.
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Suggested Reading |
| Books • Wild Tigers
of Ranthambhore by Valmik Thapar and Fateh Singh Rathore (Oxford
University Press).
Articles
Sanctuary Magazine has covered the forests of Ranthambhore
in:
• Jan/Mar '82, Vol. II No. 1 Ranthambhore by Valmik
Thapar
• Jan/Mar '85, Vol. V No. 1 - The Tigers of Ranthambhore
by Valmik Thapar and Fateh Singh Rathore
• Sept/Oct '96 Vol. XVI No. 5 Tiger 2000 by Bittu Sahgal
and Valmik Thapar
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