In a video shared by Dr. Anish Andheria’s Twitter handle shows, in tourism zone of Ranthambore during safari, a feral dog surrounded by safari vehicles looks agitated and tries to hide behind a vehicle then suddenly a tiger attacks the dog and takes it into thicket. Tourists taking pictures of the incident can be seen in the video.
This incident raises many questions. In 2020, NTCA directed all the tiger bearing states to manage the feral dogs menace around tigers reserves but it seems as failed as govts’ ABC(Animal Birth Control) program in past years. These population of feral dogs pose a serious threat to carnivorous wildlife as they transmit a deadly virus called CDV(Canine Distemper Virus) when wildlife feed on them. In 2018, within the span of a few months, more than 80 Asiatic lions died due to CDV outbreak in the region. Feral dogs killing wildlife and wildlife killing feral dogs becoming a common phenomenon across all the tiger reserves and wildlife bearing areas. It needs to stop.
