The bloody trail indicated that the notorious wildlife trader, Sansar Chand was involved, though this was reportedly hushed up, and Gopal Moghiya, the main accused, is still absconding. The Sariska killers sold the tigers to Chand. The same gang may now be targetting Ranthambore.

While the tigers are relatively safe within the core area of the park, they run a high risk when they cross over to the adjoining, ill-protected and degraded buffer areas. G Deputy director S Bhardwaj likens Ranthambore to a natal ward. "Our tigresses give birth and nurture the cubs here. Once they grow up, they mark their own territory. The males are sometimes forced out and walk into virtually unprotected buffer forests," he says. The adjoining Keladevi sanctuary lost its tigers due to this.

Poaching is just one threat. Ranthambore is hemmed in by about 90 villages with a population of over 1.5 lakh and an equal number of livestock. In the monsoon, the cattle virtually takes over the park and Ranthambore turns into a battlefield between foresters and graziers. Such close proximity also leads to human-animal conflicts. This February, a straying tiger killed a man in an adjoining village. Villagers generally retaliate and tiger and leopard deaths by poisoning are not uncommon, though usually passed off as 'natural deaths' in Government files.

Another equally serious threat is inbreeding. With such a small population, the genetic pool of the tigers of Ranthambhore is shrinking and inbreeding will result in a weak, vulnerable population with a high mortality rate. Wildlife expert Fateh Singh Rathore points out the need for corridors to connect the park to the forests of Karoli and Kuno in Madhya Pradesh to facilitate movement and tiger regeneration in those areas.

Tourism pressure is immense and hotels have mushroomed outside the reserve. Besides putting pressure on the sanctuary's resources, it is feared that a constant stream of vehicles stresses the tigers and they are forced to stray to lesser-protected areas. Lakhs of pilgrims enter the core area on foot every year, carrying with them LPG gas cylinders to cook! "But stopping the entry of pilgrims in the park is politically volatile," says an officer.

Shafyat Hussein, the director of the park stresses that he needs a stronger, larger force for a round-the-clock vigil and combating the poachers, besides political support which, he says, is absent.

Three litters, which are being commonly sighted, along with the males, represent the reserve's only hope.

If Ranthambhore's tigers are to be saved, action must be taken, now. Sariska has shown that extinction is not a doomsday prophecy.