No more wild selfies: Mobiles banned in Tadoba from Dec 1

Nagpur: Stung by the videos of a tiger chasing a tourist vehicle in Agarzari buffer last Sunday and Pandharpaoni tigress Maya and her two cubs being crowded by tourists going viral on social media, the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) has decided to ban mobile phones during safari in both core and buffer zones.
According to an order issued on Saturday by TATR field director NR Praveen, the ban will come into force from December 1. The decision has been taken as guides, drivers and tourists share information about tiger sighting which leads to a rush and vehicles crossing speed limits to reach the site.

“All the vehicles congregating at one place leads to mobbing the animal movement which is not in the interest of both animals and tourists. Secondly, geo-tagged information and pictures taken over mobiles are circulated across the social media which can be misused and hence the ban. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) too has issued an advisory to stop the practice,” says Praveen.

The field director says many tourists have been seen taking selfies with tigers by going too close to them in the park. “This endangers the lives of tourists. Those found using mobiles inside the park will be shunted out and action will be taken against respective guides and drivers,” said Praveen.

TATR will perhaps be the first park in the country to impose such a ban. Rajasthan chief wildlife warden GV Reddy said, “In Ranthambore we allow mobiles. There is no network inside the park. Even if tourists take pictures, they share them with the park and we use as a tool to monitor tigers and as evidence about their presence.”

Madhya Pradesh principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Shahbaz Ahmad too said there is no such ban in MP and there are no such rules too. “Basically, mobiles are used to capture images as there is no coverage. Such a decision has been left at the discretion of field directors,” Ahmad told TOI.

State wildlife board member Kishor Rithe has termed the decision “childish”. “Mobiles phones have become part of life and its use is unavoidable. Even if banned, its enforcement is simply impossible. It will open a Pandora’s box and there is no point in putting a grey system in place,” said Rithe.

The wildlife conservationist added that to enforce the ban a lot of staff of will be deputed and money spent which will come through tourism receipts only. “A couple of incidents cannot be a benchmark to impose such a ban. Tourists are paying through the nose and if you don’t allow them to click pictures than it is unjustified. Use of mobiles should be regulated not banned,” said Rithe.

Naturalist Himanshu Bagde welcomed the ban saying that tourists tend to go close to tigers as mobiles do not have powerful cameras for clicking pictures and making videos. “This creates a conflict situation,” he said.

There is also the danger of mobiles getting misplaced, according to Bagde. “Nowadays, tourists show their bookings on the mobile which will have then have be surrendered at the gate. Who will take responsibility if phones go missing. There are over 800 visitors at a time in the reserve,” he said.

The Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, and other tiger reserves will not enforce TATR decision as of now. Pench field director RS Govekar said, “We will not impose ban but sometimes such decisions have to be taken in the interest of wildlife and management. In 2017, I had imposed such a ban in Koka sanctuary but it was withdrawn later.”