As the buffer zone suffered degradation, more and more people started to make use of the park resources illegally. The land has always been required to provide for the needs of the people. However, the demands now being made on the land by local people are exceeding its natural regenerative capacity. Over the last 20 years several things have happened to accelerate the pressures on the landscape. Ranthambore National Park was established in 1981.
Indian law forbids local people from making use of the natural resources of the park.
While illegal use of the park's natural resources continues, the establishment of the park shifted much of the pressure from the park onto the buffer zone. Twelve of the sixteen villages formally located in the park were relocated to lands outside the park boundaries. Due to lack of proper training these people did not know how to take up agriculture. Many of them continued to raise large herds of cattle and graze them in the buffer zone and in the park. Population of the area surrounding the park has swelled from approximately 60,000 to 200,000 inhabitants.