As Indian tiger reserves implement a full ban on mobile phones during safaris, do we need to rethink how we behave as wildlife tourists?

You’re riding in a Jeep through a sun-dappled forest in India, when right before your eyes, a majestic tiger appears from the undergrowth. You immediately reach for your phone, angling it so you can capture your awestruck face and the majestic cat in the same frame. Success – you get the shot right before the predator slinks away.

Capturing such an image is the stuff of travel dreams. But thanks to a ruling from India’s Supreme Court, it’s a scene India’s forests won’t see for much longer. A supreme court ruling passed in November 2025 has led to the banning of mobile phones from the core tourism zones of some of the country’s tiger reserves, deeming the devices – and the behaviour safari tourists exhibit when using them – too dangerous to humans and wildlife alike.

This February, a shocking viral video illustrated how bad things have got. In it, a wild tiger in Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan is surrounded by multiple safari vehicles and is forced to pick its way around them to escape to the forest, while metres away, tourists snap photos and shout. The tiger appears cornered and stressed. In India, these kinds of overcrowded wildlife moments, termed “safari jams”, are increasingly common.

  • anon6789@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    2 days ago

    “There was an incident where a child fell off a Jeep because the mother was taking a selfie and the child got jostled out of the way. The guide had to jump and pick up the child – the tiger was a few feet away.”

    Yeesh…

    In Kenya, private safari guide Zarek Cockar thinks that the issue goes beyond mobile phones and individual behaviour to a recalibration of what we expect from a safari.

    “Photographers with large lenses pushing to get onto the ground for a better angle can be far bigger offenders than someone quietly taking a photo on a phone,” he said. “The deeper issue is often poor expectation setting from the outset. If guests arrive believing wildlife encounters are about getting ever closer or capturing a dramatic shot at any cost, the guide is then placed under enormous pressure to deliver.”

    My first thought was at least people with actual cameras can at least be annoying from further away, but this comment from the guide reminded me this is still a problem in a lot of areas with easy access everywhere. I’ve seen plenty of scenes where an animal will live in a readily accessible place and people just swarm the location. Just because they can take a photo further away still doesn’t necessarily make it the photo they want. People will always want better.

    Ecotourism can be great, but the focus needs to be on the animals, and the tourism needs to come second. Pretty much all of these animals are “rare” because people couldn’t be bothered to leave them alone.

    The new rules for Indian tiger safaris

    • Visitors are now required to put their mobile phones in a box before entering a tiger reserve, or to put it on silent and keep it in their bag. Per the legal ruling, the use of mobile phones within tourism zones of core tiger habitats is not permitted.

    • Roads in tiger reserves cannot be used between dusk and dawn except for emergency vehicles.

    • Fringe areas around tiger reserves have restricted development plans.

    These seem like basic, common sense rules. I see no problems here. It’s a good start.