Tiger chases tourist vehicle inside Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve

Mumbai, Nov 13: 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, at least two passengers are seen inside the Maruti Gypsy jeep as a tiger suddenly spots them and starts running after the vehicle.

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 seeing visitors' vehicle near her, he said.

After 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 the 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.

The incident came just three days after a committee of animal experts and government officials launched an investigation into the killing of the tigress Avni.

Local authorities were strongly criticised for killing the tigress, which is believed to have killed 13 people in the last two years.

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.