Journalism of Courage
‘National animal hunts national bird’: Viral video captures a rare moment
Wildlife photographer Kasthuri Rangan’s video shows the tiger gripping a peacock in its mouth while the bird is still alive.
The peacock can be seen frantically moving its feathers in what appears to be a final attempt to escape, but the tiger holds on.
Wildlife often throws up moments that are both fascinating and difficult to look away from. One such scene was captured by wildlife photographer and content creator Kasthuri Rangan, who filmed a tiger hunting an unusual prey—India’s national bird, the peacock.
Rangan shared the video on Instagram with the caption, “The national animal hunts the national bird.” The footage shows the tiger gripping a peacock in its mouth while the bird is still alive. The peacock can be seen frantically moving its feathers in what appears to be a final attempt to escape, but the tiger holds on.
“It’s a live kill,” reads the text over the video.
Watch the video:
View this post on Instagram
The footage has since attracted lakhs of views on Instagram, with viewers reacting to the striking encounter and the unusual choice of prey.
“He probably doesn’t know that’s a crime to hunt the national animals,” quipped one user. “The National Bird happens to be the breakfast of our National Animal,” wrote another.
“Guess the wildlife act of killing a national bird does not apply in this case,” commented a third user.
Another person offered a more philosophical take, writing, “They don’t realize that another animal species in nature (humans) invented imaginary concepts like countries and territories, then started calling other animals their national animals.”
Story continues below this ad
“Checking comment box for that epic comment: ‘why dont you help that poor peacock instead of filming it’,” read another comment. “Jokes apart…. Nature doesn’t leave any chance to surprise,” added another user.
Many others praised the photographer for capturing the rare encounter and the way the footage was filmed.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Advertisement
Loading Recommendations...
Advertisement
Live Blog
Advertisement