During a recent visit to Gir National Park — a natural habitat of the Asiatic Lions — in Gujarat, Rakul Preet Singh was seen stepping out of the safari vehicle, surrounded by forest officials. The video further shows the actor being escorted away on foot, with the vehicles following, prompting social media users to speculate whether any guidelines or rules were violated.
Following the storm on social media, the park authorities issued an official statement: “We have already issued a clarification regarding this video through our official Twitter handle. We clarified that the video is from outside the entry point of the Sasan Sanctuary. Every sanctuary has a designated entry point for visitors entering the protected area. The viral video was shot outside that point. Therefore, we clarified that the incident did not take place inside the restricted zone.”
Sharing how Rakul’s actions did not violate the standard protocol followed inside the sanctuary, they further elaborated, “As per the rules, once inside the sanctuary, no one is allowed to step out of their safari vehicle. In the viral visuals, she is seen outside the entry point area, then leaves and returns. had come with her team for a planned visit to the sanctuary. However, before entering the sanctuary, she experienced a medical issue. Due to this, her team took her back, and she did not enter the sanctuary premises.”
Here’s the video and their statement:
The alleged video being circulated is from outside the entry point of the Sanctuary area and not inside the restricted zone.
— DCFSasan-Gir (@dcfsasangir)
The authorities also clarified that stepping down is fair game if done outside the protected or restricted zone. “Our restricted zone begins only after the sanctuary entry point. No rules were violated. We have already clarified this through our official Twitter handle,” the concluded.
All national parks are wildlife sanctuaries, but all sanctuaries are not national parks. Keeping that in mind, Indrajeet Ghorpade, conservationist and founder of the Deccan Conservation Foundation, says that the rules to adhere remain similar across protected and restricted areas — and ideally across the entire forest. “Protected areas focus on conservation, while restricted areas refer to areas with limited access for people, including foreigners, to maintain ecological balance,” he explained.
According to him, establishing strict laws is a need of the hour, including rules that require safe distances to be maintained between safari jeeps and animals. Another self-regulation is no mobiles to communicate animal movement news all over the sanctuary. “This will avoid jeeps racing for prime positions when animals are sighted,” he says, adding that the norm should be to experience nature first, and animal sighting second.
“Education and awareness of experiencing nature and all species should be taught. Birds, reptiles, insects and butterflies, amphibians, and flora are all a part of this experience,” he tells indianexpress.com.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
