25-05-2025
Tigers, temples and a tragic tangle in Ranthambore
Tigers, temples and a tragic tangle in Ranthambore
Ajay Singh Ugras
TNN
May 25, 2025, 14:30 IST
A sub-adult tigress recently killed two people at Ranthambore National Park, a 7-year-old boy and a 40-year-old forest ranger. But the tigress had never learnt to hunt. As officials grapple with what to do with her, there are bigger challenges for the national park that has over 350 temples, lakhs of visiting pilgrims and a growing tiger population
On May 12, around 3pm, a Ranthambore forest ranger, 40-year-old Devendra Chaudhary, was on a patrol vehicle, headed to inspect a construction site, Yagyashala, near the historic Jogi Mahal hunting lodge gate, barely 500m from the Ranthambore Fort. He got off his vehicle, an old green Gypsy, planning to cover the short stretch to the construction site on foot. He didn't make it. A 23-month-old tigress pounced on him, and dragged him into the forest. The sub-adult tigress, Kankati , sat by a dead Chaudhary in the forest for a long time before forest guards could finally shoo her away.
This was Kankati's second kill within weeks.
