| Abstract: |
Ranthambore National Park (RNP) in Rajasthan, is the north-western apex of the global range of the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), and one of the most ecologically and politically important tiger reserves in India as a part of Project Tiger. The paper analytically discusses the results of tiger conservation and ecosystem management in RNP in the period 1973-2021. The goals were to assess the demographic recovery of tigers, as well as prey base dynamics, human-wildlife conflict and ecosystem service provision. The approach incorporates both secondary data analysis of camera-trap-based spatially explicit capture recapture (SECR) studies, line-transect prey density estimates, NTCA all-India tiger estimation cycles (2006-2018), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) demographic monitoring records and published economic valuation reports. It was hypothesized that the management driven by protection has led to significant population recovery, which is currently facing threats of long-term viability due to isolation, predation by livestock and habitat overpopulation. The results indicate an increase in the number of tigers since 25 (2005) to 48 (2013) and 55 in 2018, and prey biomass of 90 animals/km 2 and flow benefits of 8.3 billion per year. The research paper concludes that, although RNP is a Project Tiger success story, genetic isolation and saturation require corridor restoration, prey augmentation and conflict mitigation as priority management measures. |
