RAS question
The Ranthambore National Park was established in which year?
Correct answer: (D) 1980.
Ranthambore National Park was established in 1980, when the main area of the reserve was notified as a National Park out of the erstwhile Sawai Madhopur Wildlife Sanctuary.
Explanation
Ranthambore became a National Park in 1980, not at the earlier conservation milestones often confused with it. The Government of Rajasthan's Tiger Conservation Plan says that the main area of the reserve was notified as Ranthambhore National Park in 1980 out of the erstwhile Sawai Madhopur Wildlife Sanctuary. In 1955, part of the forest had been declared a Reserved Area under the Rajasthan Wild Animals and Birds Protection Act, 1951. Project Tiger was launched in 1973, and Ranthambhore was among the first nine wildlife areas identified as Project Tiger reserves. Wildlife sanctuary or tiger-reserve status and National Park notification are separate protected-area milestones.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1990 is too late because the Tiger Conservation Plan places the National Park notification in 1980.
- (B) 1955 refers to the earlier reserved-area or sanctuary background, not the year when Ranthambore was notified as a National Park.
- (C) 1973 marks the Project Tiger context, when Ranthambhore was among the first nine wildlife areas identified for the programme, not the National Park notification.
Concept
Protected-area chronology separates reserved area or sanctuary status, Project Tiger inclusion, and National Park notification as distinct legal milestones. Rajasthan wildlife chronology often turns on the exact status and year, not just the place name.