The park area was once the hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Jaipur and many famous tiger shoots took place here including a visit in the early sixties, when a tiger was set up to be shot by Queen Elizabeth II. The Ranthambhore Park earned Sanctuary status in 1958 and when Project Tiger was launched in 1973, it really began to receive the protection it deserved.

A side benefit of the Park was the ground water recharge service performed by the forests that helped in replenishing the dry wells in the villages around Ranthambhore.

One of the first nine tiger reserves to be constituted during the launch of the Project Tiger in India, known earlier as Sawai Madhopur Wildlife Sanctuarary. Ranthambhore National Park with an area of 274.5 sq. km. was constituted within the Tiger Reserve in 1980. In the then Tiger Reserve, the National Park area was being managed as the core and the rest as buffer, until in 1992, Keladevi Sanctuary having area of 674 sq. km. of Protected Forest, Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary with an area of 127 sq. km., Kualji Close Area of 7.58 sq. km. and some other forests were added to the Reserve.

This park has been in the media for various incidences of man- animal conflict.