Wildlife tourism is popular in India with people going to sanctuaries and undertaking safaris to spot wild animals in their natural habitat. However, sometime videos surface on social media that show foolhardy behaviour of tourists that not only poses a danger to their own lives but also risk the lives of others. Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda shared a video of one such act during a wildlife safari. The video is a quintessential example of something that should never be done when one encounters a wild animal. In the video, a man is seen following a tiger, which is just a few hundred metres away, with a mobile phone in his hand. Other tourists are seen clicking photos from the jeep. “This is going viral. For all the wrong reasons. Tiger tourism sustains local livelihoods & helps in the cause of conservation. Such acts of few morons are giving it a bad name. Please desist from such foolhardy acts & ask ur friends to be sensible during wildlife safari’s,” Nanda captioned the video. Watch the video below: This is going viral. For all the wrong reasons. Tiger tourism sustains local livelihoods & helps in the cause of conservation. Such acts of few morons are giving it a bad name. Please desist from such foolhardy acts & ask ur friends to be sensible during wildlife safari’s. pic.twitter.com/jzUxd1oc6V — Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) January 5, 2023 Posted Thursday, the video has amassed more than 6,500 views so far. “Indian tourists, air travellers,visitors to wildlife parks/secluded islands/hill stations are always loud, garrulous and are untidy Before taking them into the wildlife reserves, they should be given a 10-15 min talk about protocols to be followed. Violators must be fined,” commented a user. “How do the safari staff allow such things to happen in the first place?” asked another. “What a foolish person to chase tiger. This person needs to be punished under wildlife act by imposing 50k fine and restrict this person in every national park,” another netizen suggested.
