General information & Quick facts Ranthambhore, Rajasthan.

•     National Park area: 275 km² core area. 392 km² including buffer zone.
•     Tiger Reserve area: 1334 km²
•     Altitude: 215 to 505 meters above sea level
•     Kota Station has a halt of all the trains for 10 min and connects Sawai Madhopur with almost 50 trains.
•     Closest airport is Jaipur at 130 km
•     Terrain: Dense tropical dry forest, open bushland and rocky terrain interspersed with lakes and streams
•     Ecoregion: Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests
•     Best Season: From November to March
•     Closed: Monsoon season (July - August)

How to Reach Ranthambore

Air : Jaipur at 130 km is the nearest airport from Ranthambore wildlife sanctuary.

Rail : Ranthambore National Park is around 11 km away from Sawai Madhopur railway station, that lies on the Delhi to Mumbai trunk route. The city is a halt for many trains, including Jaipur - Indore Super Fast, Dayodaya Express (Jaipur - Jabalpur Express), Jodhpur - Indore Intercity, Hazrat Nizamuddin - Indore Express, Marusagar Express (Ajmer - Ernakulam Express / Ernakulam Express), Jaipur - Mysore Express, Jaipur - Chennai Express, Jaipur - Coimbatore Express, Jodhpur - Puri Express, Jodhpur - Bhopal Express, Jodhpur - Indore Intercity, and the Mumbai Rajdhani Express.

The Jaipur - Indore Super Fast connects Sawai Madhopur to major city of Madhya Pradesh, Indore Junction. There is also a Jan Shatabdi Express train, from Sawai Madhopur to national capital Delhi. The other includes Kota - Hanumangarh Express, Sawai Madhopur-Mathura Passenger, Jaipur-Bayana Passenger. Kota - Patna Express connects Sawai Madhopur and Patna cities via Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi.

The luxury trains – The Palace on Wheels, The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Maharajas' Express, The Indian Maharaja also make a scheduled stop at Sawai Madhopur on their eight-day round trip of tourist destinations.

Roads : A good network of buses connect Sawai Madhopur, the nearest town from Ranthambore to all the major cities within the state of Rajasthan. The frequency of direct services though is not very great. Mostly you have to hire a Car or a Taxi from Kota to Ranthambhore. Kota - Ranthambore is a Mega Highway and can be covered in 1.5 hours easily.

Tigers of Ranthambore

During the past few years, there has been a decline in tiger population in Ranthambore due to poaching and other reasons. However there were some tigers who succeeded in passing on their genes even in such circumstances.

Macchli - The Famous Tigress of Ranthambore

A tigress known as "Lady of the Lakes" was, at a very young age, separated from her parents due to increased poaching in the area. The young tigress was called Macchli since she had a mark on her body which resembled a fish. She mated with a male who resided just beside her territory and gave birth to three female cubs, one being dubbed 'Macchli - The Junior' in a documentary.

Despite Macchli also being the name of her mother, the young cub found herself stuck with the designation. The father of the younger Macchli died early due to an unknown disease, which was confirmed when forest officer Fateh Singh Rathore saw him in Ranthambore. After this, the junior Macchli found the scent of a different male, known as Bumburam, and mated with him. She gave birth to two cubs; Slant Ear and Broken Tail. Baccha is believed to be her grandson.

Famous Broken tail Tiger of Ranthambore

Broken Tail has featured internationally in a film made about his life. He left the park area and travelled from Ranthambore to Darra where he was killed by a train while crossing the railway tracks. The documentary film called Broken Tail features his last journey and has been shown worldwide on many tv channels including the BBC, PBS, CBC, RTE among others and won the top awards at two of the world's most prestigious wildlife film festivals.