Tigers can survive in a variety of natural habitats.
The excitement of watching tigers in their natural habitat is beyond description, which is why wildlife enthusiasts spend hours and days trying to see this beautiful animal in the forests. Tiger sightings are of great interest to wildlife lovers despite the fact that they are highly unpredictable. But in the excitement of watching a tiger in the jungle, sometimes the viewers forget to consider that a tiger could be unpredictable and aggressive too.
Something similar happened recently when a few young men were visiting a tiger reserve. The group can be seen walking toward a tiger in a video posted by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda on Twitter as they eagerly wait to take pictures with the wild creature.
The video is captioned, "Remember that if you see a large carnivore, it wants you to see it. It never wanted to be chased. The tiger can maul you to death, feeling threatened. Please don't resort to this wired behaviour."
In the footage, which is of the Panna Tiger Reserve, men can be seen stepping out of their tour jeep and taking pictures of the tiger. One of them was even trying to take a selfie with the tiger. The tiger strolls into the forest, crosses the road, and seems dangerously close. The men continued to follow the tiger and record videos even after he crossed the road.
Many social media users disliked this picture shoot attempt. "Weird Guys!" "Not caring for their Own Precious Life!" "Taking Selfies to satisfy other humans!" commented a Twitter user.
Tigers can survive in a variety of natural habitats, including grasslands, tropical rainforests, snowy forests, and even mangrove swamps, thanks to their predatory instincts. But, the number of these magnificent creatures has dropped by more than 95 % since the start of the 20th century. Currently, the total number of tigers living in the wild across the globe is estimated to be around 3,900.
Of this population, India alone is home to around 3,000 wild tigers. According to World Wild Life (WWF), this makes it the country with the largest population of wild tigers.