On Saturday, two angry rhinos attacked a jeep full of Jaldapara National Park visitors in Alipurduar, West Bengal, leaving six people injured. Shocking footage captured the moment when the rhinos charged into the safari jeep, overturning it into a ditch. Before the attack, tourists were seen leaning out of the jeep, videoing something unseen between the trees and bushes.
Out of nowhere, two rhinos stormed out from the vegetation, causing the jeep to back away while a motorbike and another vehicle began to drive off too. Panicked, the tourists yelled and screamed before one jeep overturned and rolled into a ditch as the rhinos ran past.
News 18 reported that the injured were being treated at the Madarihat health centre. Following the incident, an Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer, Akash Deep Badhawan, tweeted that more safety measures are needed in the country’s safaris.
He suggested that guidelines for safety and rescue in adventure sports should be implemented in wildlife safaris across the country. He said: “Safaris are becoming more of adventure sports now! Jaldapara today!”
The video of the incident quickly made its way onto Twitter, where users flooded the platform with comments. One user questioned why there were open vehicles instead of covered vehicles for safaris. Another wrote: “New fear unlocked successfully.”
Jaldapara is a tropical grassland national park located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. It is one of the largest homes for critically endangered Great one-horned Rhinoceros, as well as a range of other animals such as Asian elephants.
Video below