- Also called:
- Sariska Tiger Reserve
Sariska National Park
Where is Sariska National Park located?
What significant wildlife conservation effort took place in Sariska?
What wildlife can be found in Sariska National Park?
What are some threats to Sariska National Park’s ecosystem?
Sariska National Park, national park and wildlife preserve in Alwar district of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India. It has an area of 464.61 square miles (1,203.34 square km), of which about 340.20 square miles (881.11 square km) form the core tiger habitat and 124.41 square miles (322.23 square km) form the buffer zone. Established in 1955 in Sariska Forest as a wildlife reserve, the park was then designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1958 and as a national park in 1982. A tiger reserve was established in Sariska in 1978.
Flora and fauna
A rocky terrain dotted by scrub jungles and grasslands characterizes Sariska. The park contains tropical dry deciduous and tropical thorn forests. The principal trees are Anogeissus pendula, Lannea coromandelica, Acacia catechu, Boswellia serrata, Zizyphus mauritiana, and Butea monosperma. Acacia forests cover the arid lower slopes of the hills and the deep, narrow valleys; bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus), the culms (stems) of which form nearly solid, impenetrable thickets, grows along the streams.
Once a famed hunting ground of the princely state of Alwar, Sariska lost all its tigers to poaching and other factors by 2005. In 2008 the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India launched a program to relocate tigers from Ranthambore National Park, also in Rajasthan, to Sariska for repopulation. Accordingly, between June 2008 and February 2009, one male and two female tigers were tranquilized and airlifted from Ranthambore and released into Sariska National Park. This marked independent India’s first tiger relocation program. Further reintroductions, along with the successful natural breeding of the relocated tigers, increased the population to 53 by 2026.
More than half a century before tigers were reintroduced to Sariska, the ruler of the princely state of Dungarpur relocated a male and a female tiger from Gwalior to the forests of Dungarpur to replenish a population that had been wiped out from hunting by British administrators stationed there. This was India’s first tiger relocation, accomplished without tranquilizers or airlifting, making the later reintroduction in Sariska the country’s first scientifically planned tiger translocation.
Wildlife includes tigers, leopards, hyenas, caracals, jungle cats, ratels, wild pigs, nilgai (Indian antelope), chital, sambar, porcupines, civets, langurs, peafowl, partridges, and thrushes. One estimate suggests that more than 200 species of birds call Sariska their home, either all through the year or during specific seasons. The park has been identified as an Important Bird Area of Rajasthan by environmental organizations such as BirdLife International and Bombay Natural History Society.
Pressures on the forest
The core zone of Sariska National Park has several small villages, whose residents depend on the forest for sustenance. Ecologists have expressed concern about forest denudation resulting from livestock grazing and fuelwood collection inside the park. Tourism is another significant threat to the wildlife and ecosystem of Sariska National Park. There are several tourist attractions inside Sariska, including the Kankwari (also spelled Kankwadi) Fort, a Shiva temple of the 12th century, and a 10th-century Neelkanth (Shiva) temple, which attract numerous visitors throughout the year. Vehicular pollution, mining, and unchecked and illegal construction also threaten the park’s ecosystem.