Close calls at Ranthambore: Man pets tiger cubs, another roams near full-grown big cat

Wild encounters caught on camera: Villager pets cubs, another walks freely near tiger in Ranthambore

Ranthambore National Park finds itself in the spotlight once more — and for all the wrong reasons. Disturbing visuals have surfaced from Rajasthan’s premier tiger reserve, showing a villager not only approaching but also petting newborn tiger cubs inside a concrete pipe in the Daulda–Devpura Dam region of the Phalaudi Range.

The cubs belong to tigress T-2302, who was reportedly nearby during the encounter.

According to a source quoted by Times of India, the villager spotted the tigress and her cubs inside the pipe, managed to enter it, click photos and briefly touch one of the cubs — a shockingly close encounter in one of India’s best-known tiger habitats.

A second video from the same region has only added to concerns. This one shows a man freely walking around the forest, barely a few feet away from a fully grown tiger as it calmly drinks from a waterhole. No forest officials are visible in either of the two incidents, according to a NDTV report.

These events have sparked renewed criticism over lapses in wildlife monitoring and the increasing danger of human-animal interactions in and around the reserve.

Ranthambore, home to over 70 tigers, has witnessed a string of alarming incidents in recent weeks. On 26 April, a seven-year-old boy, Kartik Suman, was tragically killed by a tiger near a temple inside the reserve. As per NDTV, the child’s grandmother recalled how the tiger leapt from the bushes, sank its teeth into the boy’s neck and disappeared into the forest — all within moments.

Earlier this week, another scare unfolded when a tigress suspected of developing man-eating tendencies was tranquilised after being found hiding behind a tourist cottage inside a hotel near the park. The forest department confirmed she was later released into a special enclosure within the park’s boundaries.
With tourism on the rise and tiger sightings becoming more frequent, conservationists and locals alike are raising serious questions about the forest department’s preparedness and vigilance.