Viral Video: Tiger Waits to Cross Busy Road, Netizens Question Conversation Efforts

India is home to the largest population of tigers in the world. Around 70% of the world's tigers roam in the forests and the numbers will keep increasing every year. But the increase in the numbers of the national animal doesn't always show the grim realities of the decreasing tiger habitat in the country. The blatant deforestation in the name of infrastructural development is a concern the government must address. A video of a tiger crossing a busy highway is going viral on social media. In the viral video, the tiger can be seen waiting for the trucks and vehicles to pass so that he can cross the road and move towards the other part of the jungle. The video shared by Indian Forest Service Officer Susanta Nanda is said to be from Maharashtra. 

The caption of the video read, "This is how far the ‘development' has taken our wildlife." With over one million views, the video has received over 10,000 likes and 2,000 retweets. It is also receiving numerous comments from users expressing their concern about the state of wildlife conversation in India. 

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TV actress Rupali Ganguly, famous for her lead role in Anupama also commented on the post. She said, "This is heartbreaking …. Development chahiye but not at the cost of wildlife !!! Underpass or overpass kyun nahi ban sakte ?????"

A user said, "We have captured their place and now they have no space to live and survive."

This is how far the
‘development’ has taken our wildlife. pic.twitter.com/9J5eRrb8sd — Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) February 7, 2023

Another user said, "Acquiring land for National Highways 2 lane, 4 lanes, 6 lanes is sacrificing flora, fauna & forests."

IFS officer Parveen Kaswan shared an optimistic comment on the video, he said, "This is the exact place where they are constructing the connecting bridge for wildlife. So hope for a positive thing."

 2,967 tigers were recorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2018 tiger census, up from 2,226 in 2014. When the 2022 tiger census results are announced later this year, it's expected that there will have been more than 3,000 tigers counted.