In a landmark move to protect wildlife and enhance visitor safety, India has implemented a full ban on mobile phones within the core tourism zones of several tiger reserves.
The directive follows a November 2025 Supreme Court ruling that deemed the use of these devices – and the resulting tourist behaviour – too dangerous for both humans and animals.
Under the new regulations, visitors must either deposit their mobile phones in a designated box before entering a reserve or keep them silent and stored inside a bag.
The ruling further stipulates that roads within these habitats cannot be used between dusk and dawn, except by emergency vehicles, and places strict restrictions on development in fringe areas, reports BBC.
The legal intervention comes amidst growing concerns over “safari jams,” where overcrowded vehicles surround animals to document sightings for social media.
A viral video from February 2026 illustrated the crisis at Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, showing a stressed tiger forced to navigate through a crowd of shouting tourists and vehicles.
Indian journalist Charukesi Ramadurai noted that tourists have become increasingly reckless, citing an incident where a mother, distracted by taking a selfie, allowed her child to fall from a Jeep just feet away from a tiger.
India is home to more than 3,600 wild Bengal tigers – almost 75% of the global population – housed across 58 official reserves, including Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. While conservation efforts saw tiger numbers double between 2010 and 2022, the surge in population has coincided with a rise in human-wildlife conflict, with tigers accounting for 418 accidental deaths in India over the last five years.
Sharad Kumar Vats, CEO of the Nature Safari India, explained that mobile phones have exacerbated the issue.
Drivers often use WhatsApp to coordinate and rush to sightings, while geotagged social media posts lead to overcrowding at specific watering holes.
“If we are not sensitive to them, they will cease to be,” Vats warned. “And when there is no tiger, there will be no tiger tourism”.
The Supreme Court legislation also prohibits night safaris and prioritises sustainable tourism by favouring community-managed homestays over mass tourism. Tourism operators have been granted three to six months to implement these measures, with the full impact expected when reserves reopen after the monsoon season later this year.
Ritu Makhija, a Mumbai-based sustainable tourism consultant, said the industry must adapt to a “conservation comes first” principle, moving away from a singular focus on tiger sightings toward slower, more immersive experiences.
The shift reflects a global trend in wildlife management. Last year, Kenya introduced stricter behavioural standards following incidents where tourists blocked the wildebeest migration, and Svalbard enacted new regulations requiring cruises to maintain 300 to 500 metres from polar bears.
In Sri Lanka, operators are likewise calling for government intervention to manage overcrowding.
Zarek Cockar, a private safari guide in Kenya, suggested that the issue stems from poor expectation setting, where guests believe, encounters must involve getting as close as possible for a dramatic shot.
Experienced safari tourist Prachi Joshi echoed the need for a shift in perspective, suggesting that visitors should focus on the wider ecosystem, including birdlife and landscapes, rather than “chasing” tigers.
Experts agree that while the new rules may result in fewer guaranteed sightings, the priority remains the protection of the animals and the preservation of the forest.
