Tigress chases tourist vehicle in Maha, video goes viral

A video of a tigress chasing a tourist vehicle in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has gone viral on social media.

In the video clip, tourists were seen having goosebumps as they noticed the striped animal running after their sport utility vehicle (SUV).

Range Forest Officer Raghvendra Moon said the incident took place on Sunday in a buffer zone of the tiger reserve, located in the neighbouring Chandrapur district.

The three-and-a-half year old tigress, named 'Chhoti Madhu', may have got infuriated due to the visitors' vehicle coming very near to her, he said.

Following the incident, the road in the forest was closed for visitors for a week, he said.

Officials of the forest department later held meetings with tourist guides and drivers and asked them to maintain a minimum 50-metre distance from felines in the forest, he said.

Tourists were also being asked to follow the forest department's guidelines before entering a wildlife habitat, the official said.

Maharashtra has six tiger reserves which cover an area of around 9,116 sq km.

Pench, Melghat, Sahyadri and Tadoba-Andhari are some of the popular tiger reserves that attract a large number of wildlife enthusiasts every year.

There are nearly 165 tigers inhabiting the state's reserves where eco-tourism generated a collective revenue of around Rs 11.76 crore in 2017-18, another forest official said.