Ranthambore Tiger Sighting Updates

Tiger Sighting in Ranthambore National Park.

• Tiger Sighting Update 09.11.23 -
  It has been over a month since Ranthambore National Park opened its doors to visitors on October 1st, 2023. So far, tiger sightings have been as expected. Riddhi and her family have been spotted in zones 3 and 4, while Arrowhead and her cubs continue to live in a small area of the park. There were concerns about Arrowhead's well-being, but it seems she has since recovered. T 120, the father of both sets of cubs and the dominant male of the area, has also been regularly sighted. Noorie and her cubs seem to have separated, as the cubs are mostly seen without their mother. Shakti and her family are also in the process of separating, but all three cubs are currently settled in Berda Valley and are seen often. Sultana is keeping her cubs away from the conflict zone, and her sightings are infrequent due to her busy schedule. Noor, the grand old lady of the park, continues to make her presence felt, with sightings regularly reported in zones 1 and 6. She was recently seen with T 101 in zone 1. In zones 7-8, there are sightings of T 58 and T8, while Jai, T99, Aishwarya, and her daughter Aradhya are seen frequently in zone 10. There are sighting reports of other tigers like T86 and T121 as well.

• Ranthambore Season Opener 2023 Update-  

  As we approach the end of the first month of the current safari season at Ranthambore National Park, let us do a quick recap of sightings in the current season so far. As expected, the current Queen and her family initiated the sighting charts for the new season on day one of the park opening. All the popular tigers across all tourism zones have been sighted already. Riddhi and her family of 3 cubs continue to oblige visitors with their frequent sightings in zones 3 and 4, her mother and erstwhile queen Arrowhead and her cubs are sighted regularly in zone 2. There is a new entrant to the Motherhood Club-Sultana, she was sighted with her new litter in Zone 1 as well. She has raised most of her litter in the non-tourism area of the park and the cubs were rarely sighted by tourists. It will be interesting to see if this time she does anything different OR continues to play safe and keep the cubs far away from the conflict zone. All the cubs of Shakti seem to have separated and are in the process of finding their territories. They seem to have settled in Berda for now and are sighted frequently, would be good if the female cub occupied some part of the territory owned by her grandmother T19. Dominant Males T120, T101, T121, T86 and T108 have been sighted as well in their respective territories, and so have Norrie and her cubs, Noor, T60 and other residents from last season. So far there is no news of the arrival of any young challenger male from the non-tourism area of the park. Overall, the season looks really promising with lots of action expected around the lakes. We will continue to share safari news and updates as they happen.

• Season opener 2022 Update- First update from the current season. Ranthambore opened for visitors on 1st October 2022 as per schedule. 6 different tigers were sighted during the first safari of the season - T 99 aka Aiswarya in Zone 10, T 84 aka Arrowhead in Zone 2, cubs of Noorie in Zone 2 and Riddhi and T 120 one Zone 3.   There are sighting reports of Noor aka T39 and T 111 with her one cub as well. 

• Sighting Update as of 23.03.21- As expected the trio- Arrowhead and her sub-adult daughters Riddhi & Siddhi continue to dominate the sightings at Ranthambore in the current season. Their sightings are frequent across zones 3 and 4. The battle for control of prime areas of lakes continues and this summer would be decisive. Noori continues to hold on to her territory in Zone 2 while her sister Sultana continues to claim territory outside the park as well. There are some new entrants to the tourism zone this season apart from the regular ones. Male T121 and T120 born in non-tourism areas are sighted frequently. Sightings of Krishna aka T19 are very low and she continues to spend more time in the valleys of Zone 4. T41 aka Laila also remains elusive though yours truly had an exclusive sighting of her in the first week of Feb. Apart from this there are sighting reports of T101, T111, and T112. Even T110 is making its presence felt

• Sighting Update as of 10.10.20: The new safari season started on October 1st at Ranthambore. It is always a special moment when parks reopen after 3 months of monsoon and wildlife lovers want to meet their favourite tigers. Sharing the first update of the current season. As expected, Arrowhead and Daughters continue to be the centre of attraction this season as well. They are frequently sighted in zone 3 and 4. Two prominent sightings of the season so far- daughter Riddhi fighting with a crocodile over a wild boar kill and conflict between mother Arrowhead and daughter Riddhi are doing rounds and we expect the drama over supremacy of lakes to intensify in the coming season. In zone 6 the other star family- T8 and cubs are also continuing to oblige visitors, making it equivalent to other premium zones of the park. We had predicted this almost 2 years back in our annual sighting logs and this season will be no different.  Apart from this, there are sighting reports of Shakti (T111), Sultana (T107), T102, Krishna aka T19. Rumours of 3 females having given birth to cubs/ likely to give birth soon have been doing rounds, there are no confirmations yet in terms of pugmarks/ direct sightings. 

• First tiger sightings update of 2019:  Here’s the first update of the season. It’s almost 4 months since the park opened and tiger sightings seem to be picking up. As expected and predicted Noor’s cubs had separated from their mother and it looked like the mother was pushed from her territory as two of three daughters occupied her area in zones 2 & 1. She was sighted frequently in zone 6 even mating with T34 and T57. The shifting of one of her female cubs to Mukundara Tiger Reserve she is sighted again in her territory though one of her daughters named Sultana continues to share territory in zone 1 along with one of the male cubs of T60 who has moved in. On zone 6 the most sighted family of Ranthambore continues to oblige visitors this season as well. Male tiger T34 aka Kumbha has been sighted mating with Noor as well female cub of T60 from the last litter, announcing to the world his days are not over already.  On zone 2 T60 continues to share the area with Noor. One zone 3 putting an end to speculations about her motherhood Arrowhead aka the current queen finally obliged the world with the sighting of her cubs on 2nd January 2019 whereas her mother and the erst while queen T19 continues to live in zone 4 with her cubs. On zone 5 there have been few reports of sightings of lightning aka T83 along with T73 and her elusive daughter. On zone 10 Fateh aka T42 continues to be a star attraction with visitors wanting to see this mighty beast who once upon a time was known for his short temper. Overall, a decent season so far with new cubs in the park, Summer around lakes is going to be exciting.
• Tiger Sightings update till 10th June 2018– Sighting updates this season have not been very regular, I just realized that this is only the second update in the entire season, apologies. Hopefully, they will be more regular in the coming season. This entire season was dominated by tiger families as expected – Noor and her 3 female cubs, T19 and her 3 surviving cubs, T60 family & T8 and her cubs. I will try to share the latest on all three families one by one here. Zone 2 continued to be the most favored this entire season with maximum tiger sightings along with zone 6. In Zone 2 one of the two families continued to oblige visitors throughout the season whereas it was the quartet of father, mother and 2 cubs in Zone 6. One of the female cubs of Noor got separated very early and started spending most of their time alone while the rest 2 preferred the protection of their mother who seemed to be less tolerant of their presence with each passing day. T60 on the other hand was reported mating again on Dec 17 postedpost that her sightings were not so frequent, female cub from the litter found her new home in zone 10 whereas both the boys decided to stick together and they continue to do so even now. T57 continues to remain elusive most of the time however scarcity of water forces him to oblige especially post April. Zone 6 continues to be the favorite with almost daily tiger sightings on most days. Lake area a regular favourite among visitors had a low run this season with Arrowhead losing her cubs pretty early. She continues to remain elusive most of the time. The dominant male T 86 prefers to live under cover, especially after a deadly fight with T95. T91 the other male who was defeated by T86 was finally shifted to his new home at Mukundara Hills whereas the earlier dominant male of Lakes Star Male aka T28 died of old age and injuries in a farmhouse outside the park.  On zone 4 it is T19 and her 3 cubs who continue to keep sighting charts ticking along with mother-son duo of Laila and her male cub. Zone 5 was also a little subdued this season with not-so-regular tiger sightings of T64, T73 and her sub-adult female cub. Even the part resident of zone 5, Lightning continues to spend most of her time with her newly born cubs in areas out of bounds for tourists. Zone 10 was another favourite with last minute travellers as the the big male Fateh & his Partner T13 continued to oblige tourists with their sightings, especially during summer. Once famous zone 9 returned to limelight with sightings of T59 and her two 10-month-old cubs along with father T62 in early June. While there were rumours of the presence of cubs in the area this was the first such direct sighting.
• First tiger sighting update of new season- Almost a month since the park opened after annual closure for 3 months. this was perhaps one of the weakest monsoon in recent times and the impact is already visible. Most of the streams and nallas are already dry giving a feel of the end March/early April, tough summer months lie ahead, especially for herbivores.  As expected both the families of Ranthambore Noor and her 3 female cubs, T8 and her 2 male cubs are leading the sighting charts. T8 and her cubs continue to top the charts followed by Noor and family where female cubs have started showing signs of independence. The family is now spending time on both zone 1 & 2 unlike last summer when she had almost given up on zone 1. After a brief hiatus, T60 and her cubs have also made their presence felt on sighting charts. The royal family of Ranthambore continue to maintain a low profile. While T19 continues to tend her 3 surviving cubs out of a litter of 4 on zone 4, lightning – female cub from last litter who was rumored to be carrying cubs is looking for a partner to mate, her own sister & star attraction of Ranthambore is still on the lookout for a dominant partner who can settle the territorial issues once for all between the three eligible suitors T91, T86 & T57.  All the 3 males continue to avoid each other & not many sightings have been reported. There were reports of her being pregnant but sighted her a few days back & as per my observation she still is not.  On zone 5, the longest and most potential route in terms of tiger sighting T64 continues to hold his territory, T73 the shy female was sighted with her cubs and so was T41 with her lone cub.  One zone 7 & 8 there have been sighting reports of T58 whereas T13- oldest surviving female in park currently was reported sighting with a single cub on zone 10.  T28 the erst while king of lakes continues to come to terms with his lost status & territory as he has been pushed towards the periphery of park .Overall lack of water already would result in better tiger sightings in park from early season itself. More updates and stories as they happen.
• Tiger Sightings update till 15.05.17– Summer is already at its peak in Ranthambore and so are Ranthambore tiger sightings however the charts are still dominated by few individuals. As expected Noor and her 3 female cubs continue to be the star attraction of Ranthambore. Lack of water and frequent movement of an unknown male on zone 1 resluted in them staying back on zone 2 for more than 2 months now which has resulted in zone 1 safaris going dry which has not been the case in her previous litters. There was always a tension between Noor and T60 especially with overlapping territories around Phootakot area of zone 2 which resulted in fight between them two day back. While as per eye witness T39 surely was a winner and forced T60 to retreat. The other family on zone II i.e T60 qnd her cubs have also been sighted pretty regularly this season but still are not as popular as Noor and her family. Not so far away T8 and her two surviving cubs along with father Kumbha aka T34 continue to keep the sighting charts ticking with almost daily tiger sightings . Around the lakes Arrowhead is learning that being a celebrity tiger does come with a cost. Owner of one of the most expensive piece of wild real estate she is right now not liking too much attention she is getting from various males eyeing her territory and her OR perhaps she is spoilt of choices only she could tell. It appeared that she is more or less settled with T91 when the first contendor T87 male cub of T8 from third litter staked his claim followed by mighty T57 who fancied his chances with both land and lady and drove younger inexperienced males away. Sightings around lakes are not as great and would continue to be so till the time a dominant male is well settled . On zone 4 and 5 sightings of T73 and cubs and T41 and cub are less than expected and here also presence of too many wandering males is the sole reason. Atleast there are two young males fighting it out T74 and T64  fighting to take control along with T19 who continues to expand her territory beyond lakkar da and has been sighted till berda, semli and even Bakola. On the other zones zone 10 continues to be popular with frequent sightings of T42 aka Fateh and T13 who probably is the oldest surviving female in park. Other tigers which were sighted during the last few days are T85 aka Pacman who got badly injured on face post a fight with T57 few days back whereas his sister lighting too was ocassionally sighted on zone 5.
• Tiger Sightings update till 16.02.17– After a slow December end and even lesser tiger sightings in January, things have started improving in February and hopefully would continue to get better from here onwards. While there were multiple reasons for not so great signtings last two months namely- sudden variations in temperature, plenty of water in park courtesy a great monsoon, presence of feral cattle inside park who had conviniently sneaked in from porous park boundaries. While forest department personnel were having a tough time managing this influx, tigers were enjoying this windfall opportunity and made the most it. So here’s what happened in last two months or so- T60 and her three cubs continued to keep the sightig charts moving for zone 2, reminded me of the good old days when T15 was the resident tiger in Guda. Noor and her cubs continued to remain elusive except some ocassional sightings . Hopefully her signtings would get better in summer. At the lakes Arrowhead continues to carry the legacy forward of her great clan. With her brother Pacman finally moving out from his natal territory the suitors are lining up at her doorsteps to lure one of most eligble bachelor in park. T91- male cub of T30, T86- male cub of T8 from last litter continue to frequent the area & so does the father Star male.  As per reports T74- one of the male cubs of T17 who had earlier lost ground to T64 seems to be coming back till Malik lake on zone 4 and also was sighted in his erstwhile territory Bakola. Only time would tell which of these boys finally manage to take control of lakes. T57 the resident male of zone 2 & 1 could also be interested in expanding his territory further & win over a potential mate as both his female partners are busy with cubs. T34 on zone 6 recently had a narrow escape after he tried to kill a feral bull who had entered the park. Some of the visitors were lucky to witness tables being turned on this skilled hunter and how he narrowly escaped the furious bull. There are sighting reports from zone 8 as well where T61 and her male partner continue to live peacefully. T19 continues to live in hiatus spending most of her time in valleys of zone 4, she has been ocassionally sighted on zone 4 and 5 where as sighting frequency of other mothers in park T73 and T41 are also not regluar so far. Perhaps dispersing young males are giving a tough time to these hands on mothers who would want to protect her cubs at all costs.
• Tiger Sightings update till 16.12.16- A little delayed update this time as i have been away from Ranthambore for probably the longest time in last 13 years due to other commitments, hoping to be back soon. As expected & hinted in my last sighting update, the change of guard continues a Ranthambore. Noor & her 3 cubs are now the star attraction of Ranthambore as expected & the other family getting lime light is T60 & her sub adult cubs. Pacman continues to make his intentions clear about not wanting to leave the lake area, where as his sister Arrow head continues to hold the area behind fort & Jahalra. Lighting almost got herself in trouble few day back as he fell into a well at the periphery of park, her current home. Timely intervention by forest department ensured that she remained unharmed & was released back in wild. There are rumors of T19 having given birth to cubs but the same has not been confirmed yet. The other two mothers T41 & T73 continue to raise their litter mostly away from public glaze or perhaps ever intruding males who seem to be roaming freely across territories. Star male aka T28 was treated for injuries sustained during fight with his son Pacman, the old king seems to be losing guard to young one. While the law of nature would take its own course it is never a good feeling to see end of a tiger whom you have known for years. So far T64 , T57 & T58 seem to be settled in their territories well with no signs of challenge . Resident tigers on zone 6 & 8 continue to contribute to sighting logs. For last few days the sightings have gone down considerably as expected however hopefully it would not continue for long.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 31.10.16– As expected it the young members of erstwhile first family of Ranthambore which is still leading the sighting charts at Ranthambore. Arrowhead & her brother Pacman are the front runners whereas lightning seems to be subdued. There were reports of fights between Pacman & his father and current riler star male aka T28 recently, in nex few weeks we would come to know the fate of this battle royale. Apart from this T60 and her 3 cubs which were missing from sighting charts initially are now back in action, Noor & T57 have also been sighted , T63 who was reported to have given birth to a litter last summer was also sighted with single cub. There has been a new addition to Ranthambore family as Laila aka T41 was recently sighted with 2 cubs by tourists at intersection of zone 4 & 5. Apart from this the family on zone 8- T61 and her two cubs continue to keep the sighting charts ticking for RTR. We do expect atleast 2/3 more tiger families in park in months to come, it is just a matter of time before they show up. All in all summer definitely is promising at Ranthambore. Look out for our fixed departure wildlife tours scheduled for summer 2017.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings Update till 07.10.16– Here’s an update on tiger sightings in first 7 days of season. Park opened on 1st October 2016 & as expected first family of Ranthambore opened the charts for this season. On day 1 Pacman, Arrowhead & T19 were sighted.  There have been reports of sighting of Lighting & few more tigers whose identitiy were not confirmed.In the last one week there have been sighting reports from zone 6, zone 8.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings update till 02.04.16- Summers are in full swing now & temperature has touched 40 degrees already as i write this sighting update of last 1 month on a bright & Sunny Saturday. Weekdays are quite and peaceful in park after a super crowded long weekend. So news from first family first, T19 is all set to raise her 3rd litter with her long time companion T28 aka star. They both were reported mating around mid March for days, however it has been observed that her summer mating are not so successful at least in case of previous two litters. Lighting aka Kankati as she is called is comfortably settled in a small patch stretching from Tamba Khan till Malik Talab anicut and almost obliges visitors with sightings on daily basis. Machli Junior aka Arrowhead is settled around Rajbagh, taapmaan, jhalra and Naal Ghati whereas male cub is at present sharing space with both the sisters. Around end March there were reports of him getting bashed by Father T28 which means his days in his birth territory are over soon. On the other hand Guda on zone 2 is all set to regain its lost glory as sightings of new family have started. Initially two cubs were sighted on 7th & 8th March and then yours truly saw three cubs for the first time on 18th March morning. They surely are going to be next showstoppers in months ahead.  The other mother Noor is maintaining a low profile as she has two young ones to take care. While her movement is restricted mostly on zone 1, tiger sightings have not been so frequent which are likely to improve from April end onward once the cubs are 3 months plus. On zone 5 Sundari boys seems to have lost their hard earned area to their cousin and older male T64 as he is now sighted all the way till Bakola valley. He has reportedly mated with T41 aka Laila & has one younger female T73 in his territory. Hopefully once order gets restored sightings of both T73 and T41 would improve. Haven’t heard much about T75 in last few days not sure if he has completely vacated the area is confined to large valleys of zone 4. On zone 6, T34 was reportedly beaten by T58 a young male who was also held responsible for killing of one of the cub of T8. Saw this handsome male few days back on zone 8 and he surely means business. There are also reports of frequent tiger sightings on zone 7 as well where are there is not much news coming from zones 9-10.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings update till 04.03.16- First family of Ranthambore continues to be the show stopper as expected. Mum T19 is sighted less frequently as compared to other members of family as she prefers to enjoy her me time far away from lakes mostly. Her only significant sighting in last few months has been a charge on sambhar deer at Rajbagh in mid Feb. On the other had T39 aka noor who had supposedly given birth to cubs recently was seen mating with T57 mid Feb for 3 days which has raised concerns over wellbeing of new born cubs as normally cats would come in heat if they lose their cubs. While jungle is full of surprises and we still do know very little about mysterious life of tigers, the possibility of harm to cubs looks remote. The dominant male in area is their father & Noor is an experienced mother as this is her third littler, guess next few days would confirm the same or otherwise. T60 the shy female of Guda has also supposedly given birth, with water already drying out in that area forest department has started filling water holes. Their sightings should start by end March/early April as well, there are unconfirmed reports of sighting of cubs by someone recently but no photo evidence yet. T41 seems to have been stuck between multiple males as she was again sighted mating with T64 near Bakola, she had mated with T74 and supposedly with T25 not so long ago but there seems to be no news of success of these matings. we did lose an old tiger T30 aka Husnaara during this period most likely due to old age, her male cub was sighted around lake area few times in end Jan & mid Feb raising speculation of new male tiger planning to settle around lakes but he looked too you to be of any threat to dominant male & was chased away by Arrow head. He was subsequently sighted towards the other end of park confirming the fact that this young transient sub adult had probably lost way while looking for safe area. With summers announcing their arrival as early as end Feb and water drying out fast, summers do look hot and promising.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings update till 12.01.16- Here we are with first sighting update of 2016 from Ranthambore. As expected first family of Ranthambore continue to top sighting charts, infact most of the tiger sightings in park are courtesy this family who are continuously obliging visitors on zones 3 &4. Noor who is all set to deliver cubs soon was occasionally sighted on zone 2, so is T60 the young female from Guda who apparently has already given birth to cubs. Both these cubs have been fathered by T57. Sighting frequency of young males T74 & T75 is much lesser as compared to last season so is of T64. While water drying out fast in most areas on zone 5, Bakola should the hotspot this summer as far as tiger sightings on zone 5 is considered. Beginning of year zone 8 was in news with continuous sightings of T61 & her two cubs whereas T8 was reportedly seen mating with T58 who also is father of T61 cubs. Boys of noor from second litter continue to live on periphery of park towards Ranthambore road & old city. With presence of dominant males all around they virtually have place in park right now and would need to hang in as long as they can manage to. This has been an unusual winter for Ranthambore with temperatures touching 28 degrees in day time in month of January which is resulting in water drying out at much faster speed than expected.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings Update till 18.12.15– Almost a month since last sighting update & park seems to be having loads of action. First things first- Noor aka T39 is pregnant again, saw her on 5th December morning & swollen belly confirms that her mating with T57 the new young male is a success, She should deliver sometime in January so there is a reasonably good possibility of sighting of new litter by end of summer. First family continues to be the star attraction of Ranthambore, as the cubs are growing signs of conflict are evident and perhaps this is the last summer of this family together. Arrow head, the current show stopper got herself injured twice in fights with sibling during last one month & has been mostly around the lake area of park. Good news is that she is able to hunt on her own, saw her eating a kill by herself few days back. While the other two siblings are still with mother most of the times. T28 the dominant male of lakes is now showing signs of ageing, though he is still strong enough to hold his area for next 2 odd seasons. T64, male cub of T19 continues to further advance his territory & challenge his cousins T74 & T75. Saw him at Bagda a fortnight back, all the way into territory of his cousins. The duo T74 & T75 continue to aggressively patrol their area. T74 was sighted mating with T41 aka laila few days back, hopefully this alliance would result in birth of cubs as well.
• Ranthambore Tiger Sightings Update till 20.11.15- Almost 2 months since the park has opened post monsoon. As update earlier there is less water in park due to weak monsoon which has started showing up, Forest gives a feel of Feb-March already as water in small nallas & streams has already dried. First family of Ranthambore continues to be the show stopper so far. The family has now split 3:1 with arrowhead aka Machli Junior staying away from family most of time which the other female cub & male cub are still hanging around with mother. Arrowhead had started showing signs of independence at a very early age last season & most of times this season she has been on her own occupying area around Malik Talab. She had couple of altercations with mother & other sister once in this season post which she has been been maintaining distance from the rest. Did see her moving in opposite direction to the rest of family more than once. It would be interesting to see dynamics in this family in coming months. The other family of park Noor & her boys are having their own share of challenges. While T57 continues to make inroads into their territory, mother has been able to keep him at a bay so far, not sure for how long though? Visitors got to see an unusual phenomenon recently when all four were sighted together, a rare sighting of male with cubs fathered by another tiger. The boys have been giving a tough time to forest department as they continue to explore human settlements outside the park which were also part of their father’s territory.  Grand old lady of Ranthambore was also in news as she spent one morning in parking lot of resort closer to her territory and then due to a reported attack on a herdsman who tried to save his goat from her. As per sources monitoring her she has now started showing signs of age & has difficulty in walking at times. Surprise of season was first ever clear photo documentation of T60 in Guda area, a young female which has moved in from Indaala area of park. She was photographed on 28th October morning by Tigerwalah clients and later strip patterns were matched with database which confirmed her identity. Incidentally I had received her photograph taken in this 1.5 years back as well when she was reportedly mating with T57 but the image was of little help in identifying her. There have been few sightings of T73, T74, T75 as well in their territories where as one odd sighting of T41 has also been reported. T34 & T8 with single male cub are being sighted on zone 6 whereas sighting log for T58 and her 2 cubs on zone 8 has also started moving. With drop in temperature hopefully her sightings would be more frequent on hill top which she was avoiding so far. Winters are arriving at Ranthambore & this winter would see much more action as compared to previous season. Personally speaking i prefer this time to document the striped beauties more than summers & plan to do more safaris from now till March, do continue to follow this space for updates on your favourite tigers from Ranthambore.
• Tiger Sightings update till 08.10.15- One week into the new season & most of the tigers in tourism zone have marked their presence already. While opening safari on day 1 was all about glimpses as tourists saw T28, T39, cubs of Noor, highlight being presence of Queen Mother Machli. As expected first family of Ranthambore continues to be star attraction of Ranthambore, playful bouts slowly turning into fights of dominance. Other prominent tigers which have been sighted are T73, T74, T75, T34, T8, T64, T57, T13. T57- the young resident male of Guda, did try to make further inroads into Noor’s territory on zone 1, he was sighted near Tapkan but was quickly chased away by vigilant mother. Also there have been unconfirmed news of T63- female cub of T19 having given birth to cubs as she dragged a kill almost 1.5 km to hills near Guda guard post. This would surely be good news for zone 2 & Ranthambore as Machli’s legacy would continue further at Ranthambore. Overall the park is all set for some great tiger sightings in winter given lesser water levels.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 30.06.15– June is always considered tricky for tiger sightings as monsoon arrives by mid-June at Ranthambore. This june was undoubtedly month of the first family of RTR. Shutterbugs were witness to some great photo opportunities around lakes. While the other family of RTR also did oblige with few tiger sightings on zone 1. On the other end of park Bakola & adjoining areas of zone 4- Semli & Berda were teeming with action. Siblings T74 & T75 continued to patrol and protect their newly acquired territory where as T25 continued to woo Laila aka T41. Couple was spotted together once again on 20th June at Bakola & surprisingly T74 was less than 200 meters away from these love birds. As the male & female were seeking out each other through vocalizations which echoed through valley, he was comfortably sleeping in open grasses. T28 did visit his territory once again & was sighted on morning of 30th June, the only sighting on last day of season. T64- male cub from first litter of T19 was occasionally seen around his new home on zone V, He did dare to visit the lake area once when mother & siblings were not around but this was indeed a brief visit. On the other hand his sister T63 was frequently seen around Pandu Deh, Guda & Gandra area on zone II, would be nice to have a resident female with breeding potential around Guda. On zone VI T8 & her female continued to oblige visitors whereas occasional sightings were reported of resident male T34. There as action in distant zone 9 & 10 as well with sightings of T59 & T42.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 30.05.15- As expected summer is at its peak & most of the water points which had survived April are dry now. Forest department has started filling water holes across zones to ensure there is adequate water supply for animals. T19 and family continue to top sighting charts for this period as well. Park witnessed an unfortunate incident of killing of forest guard Mr. Rampal Mali on 8th May as he was returning from patrol. T24 was found to be involved in this unfortunate incident & as a result of this he was shifted to Sajjangarh Biological Park in Udaipur on 16th May 2015, his last sighting in wilderness. T39 and family are now regularly sighted around zone 1. The cubs are bold and confident, were recently documented charging on a chital fawn in absence of mother in presence of tourists. Tiger activity on zone 4& 5 continues as both brothers T74 & T75 continue to aggressively patrol their newly acquired territory across both zones. Zalim aka T25 was also sighted on zone 4 on multiple occasions, confirming the fact that T6 continues to lose his grip on his erstwhile territory. As per forest department he has now settled in non-tourism area. T16 aka Machli surprised everyone with her presence on zone 4 in early May, her second sighting during entire season. She has lost all canines, vision in left eye due to cataract but her spirit keeps her going. Sightings of second senior most citizen of Ranthambore T22 are now more frequent as expected. This shy tigress is normally seen during summers each year, once water starts drying in her territory around Guda. Zone 9 was back in limelight with reported news of mating between T42 and her new mate T59. Star male aka T28 continues to visit his family around lakes and has been sighted sharing meal with family on multiple occasions.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 25.04.15- Tiger sightings were disturbed till March end on account of continued rains and subsequent torrential rains in March. Entire landscape got transformed into monsoon forest, something which is seen post monsoon every season. Most of already dried waterholes were full again which did impact tiger sightings. There was not much action in park except sightings of first family which continued to oblige visitors. The other family T39 and cubs preferred low profile with very less sightings as they spent most of the time in non-tourism areas. It is surprising that this family has not been seen on zone 2 in 2015 which has been a kep area of T39’s territory. While in the first family one of the female cubs is showing signs of dominance as she prefers to maintain distance from the family. Both boys- T74 & T74 continue to make inroads in erstwhile territory of T6 aka Romeo. They are frequently sighted in areas of Berda, Semli, Aadi Dant & Aadi Dagar which were once key areas of T6.  Even T25 continues to visit zone 4 and was even sighted mating with T41 in early April. All this put together confirms the fact that T6 has lost grip on his erstwhile territory and partner and has decided to avoid confrontation with these ever intrusive males. During this period camera traps confirmed the presence of T64 & T65 which were feared of having moved out from park. Given the surplus number of tigers currently in park especially male tigers, these young lads do not have much options in hand. One of the cub of T8- resident of Kundaal & Chidi kho area was found dead in March beginning, apparently killed by T58, a sub adult male who is settled in balas area. Sightings of T8 and cub have been frequently reported this season on zone 6.  It is assumed that her movement towards zone 7 & 8 has been very limited post death of her male cub which has resulted in this increased sighting. Zone 10 is back in sighting charts post news of mating which continued for almost a week. T42 was sighted mating with T13, the old sultanpur tigress and mother of T39.  Summers have finally announced their arrival with temperature touching 40 degrees, hoping tiger sightings would improve soon if there are no further rains.

• Tiger Sightings Update till 11.02.15- While much action still revolves around the first family of Ranthambore, justifying why are the called so other areas of park in this period were comparatively quiet. While the park looked buzzing with action courtesy this family, not much was really happening in other areas. Having said that this family was surely in a mood to compensate for lesser sightings elsewhere. Finally the gender debate of cubs in this litter was also sorted. To most it seemed like this family had 2 male cubs and 1 female cub but it is now established that there are 2 female cubs and 1 male cub in this litter. Some good news for park as this park needs more females right now. The other family of park Noor & her two cubs are finally back from hiatus of 20 or more days and have been sighted for past few days in zone 2 & 1. Looking forward to see these cubs again as i had spent some quality time tracking this family in Oct & Nov. T24 aka Ustaad is back in action now after recovering from illness. Suffering from upset stomach, he had given a scare to forest department and was also treated upon by vet.  On the other side of park dispelling rumours of her having given birth to cubs earlier this month, T41 aka laila was reported mating with her long-time companion T6. Basis the tracking data, I had raised my doubts on presence of cubs in recent blog post which seems to be coming true.  Not much action reported from zones 6-10 either. Changed park timings and early arrival of summer should increase tiger sightings from mid Feb and yours truly would keep you updated.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 29.01.15 – Winters in full swing with fog and rains did impact tiger sightings during this period. Having said that T19 and cubs continued to oblige shutter bugs with some fantastic photo ops around the lakes, this was their one of the longest stay around lakes after a while. Daddy T28 also did spend some time with the family and shared meal. But action in other areas of park was lesser than usual. While T24 was struggling with stomach congestion and forest department was busy in treating him, his partner Noor and her cubs preferred solitude. Haven’t seen much photos of this family post Nov. T74 & T75 continue to keep the tiger sighting count, however they prefer only one or two vehicles around. Due to heavy fog early morning visibility was reduced to less than 50 mtrs till 9 AM in morning. Overall a dull period as far as tiger sightings are concerned, with sun being out for last 2 days hopefully will have more to update next time.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 07.01.15- This season undoubtedly belongs to both the family’s i.e T19 and her 3 cubs & T39 and her two cubs. However off late sighting frequency of T39 and her cubs have reduced as they are spending more time in areas beyond tourism zone. Not sure if constant follow up from father son duo of Ustaad & sultan is behind this. Sightings of T24 are also lesser this season so are of T72 aka sultan. While they are sharing the area between them guess trying to avoid each other keeps them on the move. Not so far away from this family is the current first family, they seem to be enjoying their first winter together. With constantly growing cubs, mother needs to kill frequently and therefore is on the move most of the times, being a skilled hunter does help. Father T28 visits the family occasionally. Berda couple of T6 and T41 are little elusive this season, hopefully their sightings would improve as summer approaches and water start drying. The trio of zone V- T73, T74 and T75 continue to contribute meaningfully to sighting log, the boys are daring to challenge T6 with their increased presence around Bakola, while they did get beaten up once but they have not given up yet. T8 and T34 continue to be sighted on zone 6 however sighting probabilities are higher for first few vehicles only. T25 aka dollar continues to be elusive and prefers to spend time away from tourism area,though was reportedly sighted towards end of 2014. Grandmother Machli seems to have recovered from her reported eye injury and loss of claw nail despite rumours of her nearing end though she still prefers to stay in area outside tourism zone and therefore negligible sightings.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 13th December 2014- This undoubtedly is one of the best winters in terms of tiger sightings in recent past. While both the mothers and their cubs continue to be show stoppers and validly so, the other tigers are also making their presence felt but surely it is no winner to guess who is getting away with all the lime light. A look at the sighting data for past few months clearly indicate that both these families are clearly responsible for more than 50% of reported tiger sightings which in most cases is alternate appearance. Tiger sightings on fort road have increased now as compared to previous months. With the influx of visitors finally slowing down lesser vehicles are now going to zones 6-10. While there were some concerns about Machli post reports of her alleged fight and eye injury but as per her tracker she seems to be doing fine while there was an injury but nothing to worry as of now. Sightings of male tigers are very less season, frequent intrusions by sub adults in their father’s territories continue to be tolerated not sure for how long though. Sightings of T6 and T41 are way less than previous year perhaps trying to avoid a conflict with intrusive T25.
•  Tiger Sightings Update till 19th November 2014-Winters seem to have finally arrived here as morning & evening are chilly. Change in climate has impacted tiger sightings as they seem to have gone down as compared to October but beautiful winter light makes even ordinary subjects interesting. Noor & family continues to be the show stopper with frequent tiger sightings on zone I followed by visit on zone II. One of the male cubs is bold and confident and reminds of sultan in his younger days which other one is docile. T19 did spend few days around lakes & now the family seems to be enjoying a break far away from paparazzi. Not sure if she is visiting her former hideout in Lahpur valley with cubs as there are no signs of this family on any zone for days and then she suddenly appears, too early to say as we still do not know lot of things about tiger behaviour. T73, T74 & T75 are occasionally sighted on zone 5. Heard some news on female cub charging on jeeps, not sure of the reason though. Both the boys are still hanging around together, saw them yesterday in Bakola valley, perhaps their first visit to this evergreen oasis which is otherwise territory of T6, hoping they stay away from conflict of any kind. T6 and T41 continue to remain elusive with perhaps the lowest sightings so far, growing infringement of T25 in their area could be the reason. T24 also looks subdued as her sightings are much less than usual average and her prefers to move in non tourism hours, haven’t heard of his sighting on zone 1 for a while. Machli seems to be doing fine as informed by her tracker though she still prefers to stay away from tourism zone. Zone 6 and zone 10 continue to oblige last minute visitors with frequent sightings of T8 and cubs, T34, T43 and cubs of T13. Good and frequent tiger sightings in Sawai Man Singh Sanctuary is good news for RNP as visitors are now wanting to explore these zones which means lesser pressure on zone 1-5.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 30th October 2014– It was Diwali week & as expected the another busy extended week for business. Once again Ranthambhore was at is best with some great tiger sightings. While T19 family & T39 family kept obliging visitors as expected, new entrants to sighting log is female cub of T41 who seems to have separated from mother sometime in monsoon & is in process of establishing her own territory. So now most of the tigers from tourism zone have been sighted except T65 & T22. It is possible the T65 might have been pushed out as he was weak among siblings whereas T22 is sighted mostly in summers only. This season looks promising with 3 females rearing 7 cubs in tourism zones, Ranthambore at its best.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 20th oct 2014– The queen decided to take a family break & mostly remained elusive during this period. Tiger sightings were also lesser as compared to previous two weeks. T19 reappeared only on 18th evening that too on zone 5 far away from lake areas, those who had pre booked zone 3 in anticipation of getting a glimpse of first family of RTR were disappointed . Cubs were sighted the following morning, her male cub from previous litter T64 was also sighted for first time during this period. The boys from tourism zone T28, T24, T72 & T34 kept sighting charts ticking where as T8 and her cubs kept obliging visitors on zone 6.
• Tiger Sightings Update till 12th Oct 2014– Apart from Regular sightings of T39, T24, T72, T34, T8 & T19 & cubs on zone II before their disappearance from lakes, new additions to sighting log this week at Ranthambore were T28 aka Star male who was back in lake area after 30th September, T75 sub adult cub of T17- good to see all the three cubs are still hanging around as there were rumours of their dispersal esp. male cubs & the legendary Machli. The lady surely knows how to surprise people with her moves. This time she showed up on fort road in evening obliging visitors of all zones with her darshan on 11th & 12th Oct.
• Tiger Sightings log till October 6th 2014– All the prominent tigers of tourism zone in Ranthambore have been sighted except Queen Mother Machli. While sultan held fort in zone 1, his mother T39 and her two cubs shuffled between zone 6 and 1. Dad Ustaad is busy marking territory & obliging visitors on zone II. T19 and her 3 cubs kept people engaged on zone III while love bird T6 & T41 kept sighting log ticking for zone IV. T25 aka Dollar, shy male from zone V opened the log for zone V followed by sub-adult tigers T73 & T74. Surprise package came in from zone 6 where resident male T34 & T8 and her cubs kept visitors on their toes with almost daily sightings. Distant zone 10 also had it’s glory movement with sighting of four tigers over kill followed by occasional glimpses. Love birds of zone 8 kept playing hide & seek with visitors as they preferred privacy.  Overall an action packed week from Tiger paradise of India.
• Sighting log for Ranthambore National Park opens with a bang today. While sultan obliged visitors in morning with first sighting of season, evening was raining tigers. Visitors were blessed with sighting of T19, T39 and mating pair of T6 & T41 in evening safari.