CONSERVATION
The tiger, and beyond
Forty-five acres left to grow wild beside the park, and the work the Rathore family began for the people and tigers of Ranthambhore.
THE LAND · 45 ACRES
In 1989 the first of this land was bought and replanting began, with native trees and new water bodies. Then, largely, it was left to itself.
Today the 45 acres hold forest, grassland and water, crossed by 9 km of trails that our naturalists walk with guests.
The land draws its own wildlife. Jackals and jungle cats move through at dusk, crocodiles keep to the water, and the birdlife makes the property a quiet favourite with birdwatchers. National Geographic called it “one of the greenest patches in the area.”
Walk it slowly and you will see how much returns when a place is given time.
PRAKRATIK SOCIETY · SINCE 1994
The tiger has a future only if the people beside the forest do too.
In 1994, Dr Goverdhan Singh Rathore, the son of Fateh Singh Rathore, founded Prakratik Society, “for the people and tigers of Ranthambhore”. Prakratik means nature.
What began as a mobile clinic visiting villages around the park grew into the region’s largest hospital, Ranthambhore Sevika, now run with Apex Hospitals. Fateh Public School, built on land Fateh Singh Rathore gave, has taught village children since 2002; in 2025–26 it had 701 students, 41% of them girls.
More than 700,000 saplings have been distributed and planted since 1995, and 622 biogas units in 68 villages mean families no longer cut the forest for firewood. The biogas programme won the Ashden Award in 2004.
TIGER WATCH
Watching over the tiger, and the families who once hunted in its forests.
Fateh Singh Rathore, part of India’s first Project Tiger team and Field Director of Ranthambhore, founded Tiger Watch in the late 1990s. Dr Goverdhan Singh Rathore sits on its board, and Prakratik calls it its sister organisation.
Tiger Watch built a network of volunteers who help protect the park, trains forest guards and gives legal support in wildlife cases.
It also works with the Mogya community, whose families once hunted in these forests. Tiger Watch opened a hostel for their children, and through Dhonk the women earn a living from craft.
Every 1 March, Tiger Watch holds the Fateh Singh Rathore Memorial Lecture and Conservation Awards.
THE FAMILY
We think of Khem Villas as a restored landscape with hospitality within it. The land, the villages around it and the tiger come first.
Fateh Singh Rathore spent his life protecting Ranthambhore’s tigers. His son Goverdhan built the hospital, the school and the village work around the park. The family supports Prakratik Society and Tiger Watch to this day, and Khem Villas grew from the same belief.
You are making an impact just by staying with us.
Recognition
Winner, RARE Sustainability Lighthouse Award, RARE Conscious Travel Awards 2026
Outstanding Practice Eco PUG Rating, TOFT, 2025–2028
Listed in the Condé Nast Traveller Black Book
A RARE India member hotel
