Some of India’s major tiger reserves have banned mobile phones on safari drives, according to the Hindustan Times, marking a significant shift in how the country protects its iconic habitats from human disruption.
The ban applies across prominent reserves, including Ranthambhore, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench, Satpura, Panna, Tadoba-Andhari, and Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. While Tadoba and Umred had already enforced the rule for the last few years, the remaining parks have now followed under directions from the Supreme Court of India, according to South Asia Travel Journal.
Visitors are no longer permitted to carry or use mobile phones inside safari zones. In most parks, devices must be left at the entry gate or handed to guides before the drive. Guides and drivers may carry a phone strictly for emergencies, and cameras remain permitted under existing regulations.
Violations could result in fines, canceled permits, or other penalties.
The court’s ruling also banned night tourism and safaris in core tiger habitats, according to the Times of India.
Forest officials say widespread phone use has fueled disruptive and unsafe behavior. Tourists were raising their voices, clustering around sightings to film social media reels and calling other drivers to tip off about animal locations, pushing for closer encounters than are safe for wildlife or people.
Before the ruling, tourists were often seen “taking risky photographs by leaning out of vehicles,” environmental activist Tapeshwar Singh Bhati told the Times of India, as well as crowding around animals and disturbing them when they were sighted.
That kind of interference can alter the movement patterns of tigers, leopards, deer, and other animals. Multiple vehicles blocking natural routes, excessive noise, and pollution chip away at the ecological balance that the few remaining tiger habitats depend on, as humans have eliminated 95% of their historical range.
Critically, animals that injure humans, provoked or not, may be euthanized. Disruptive behavior doesn’t just stress wildlife; it can ultimately cost their lives.
Reactions online have been largely supportive of the ban, with some suggesting it should expand beyond tiger reserves.
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For safari visitors, this is an “opportunity to reconnect with themselves and nature instead of having to worry about staying up to date with social media,” Ranthambore National Park wrote on its website.
One traveling couple on Instagram, though, was surprised by the ban.
“With phone cameras being this good these days, we didn’t even think of carrying our DSLR,” they wrote. But “photos or not, this family road trip gave us memories for a lifetime.”
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