BENGALURU: The State Forest Department has directed all safari visitors to keep their mobile phones on aeroplane mode and prohibited selfies during safaris.
The order follows a recent Supreme Court directive banning the use of mobile phones inside safari areas. The move is aimed at ensuring the safety of both wild animals and tourists. While the rule has already been fully implemented in safari zones of Ranthambore, Sariska and other tiger reserves, Karnataka is yet to fully follow suit.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Karnataka, Kumar Pushkar, said, “Anything that causes disturbance during safaris should not be used. Orders have been issued directing all those going on safari, including guests and staff, to keep their mobile phones on aeroplane mode.” Another senior Forest Department official, who did not wish to be identified, said, “We face fewer issues compared to other states as safaris here are more regulated.
There is no need to ask guests to deposit their phones or switch off their devices. Smartphones are used to take photographs. However, sharing locations of animal sightings and communicating with others while on safari is banned.”
Experts, however, said there should be no dilution in implementing the court’s directions. Retired PCCF BK Singh said the orders were issued to prevent the disclosure of animal locations and avoid crowding of vehicles at a single safari spot. Praveen Bhargav, Trustee, Wildlife First, said the Supreme Court’s directions to stop the use of mobile phones inside tiger reserves must be enforced before May 17, 2026.
The ban applies to safari vehicle drivers and naturalists. “It should also extend to the use of wireless radios. These measures will ensure safari vehicles do not congregate at locations where a tiger has been sighted, which is a major cause of disturbance,” he said, adding that the construction of 4G towers deep within protected areas and tiger reserves poses a growing threat and is incompatible with wildlife conservation goals. Such proposals must be rejected, he said.
Bhargav added the Supreme Court has directed that the entire area of tiger reserves, including eco-sensitive zones, be notified as “Silence Zones” under the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, by February 17, 2026. The court has also asked the government to consider notifying all forests as Silence Zones. Therefore, Karnataka has no option but to enforce the directions contained in the Corbett judgment of November 2025, which applies across the country.