Tiger Hunts Python in Corbett's Jhirna Zone: Rare Safari Footage from Uttarakhand Goes Viral

A video shared by Corbett's Field Director shows a tiger picking up a python and carrying it into the bushes, filmed by tourists during a jungle safari in the reserve's year-round Jhirna zone.

A video showing a tiger killing a python and carrying it away in its jaws has gone viral after being filmed by tourists during a jungle safari in the Jhirna tourism zone of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. The footage was shared on X on July 5, 2026, by Corbett Tiger Reserve Field Director Saket Badola, with the credit "VC Bhanudas Pingle IFS" and the caption "Expect the unexpected when you are in Corbett."

In the clip, the tiger is seen pausing briefly before approaching the snake, picking it up in its mouth, adjusting its grip, and then retreating into the bushes after a quick glance around. The moment was captured by tourists, nature guides, and safari drivers present at the scene and has since been shared extensively across social media platforms, drawing reactions from wildlife enthusiasts who described it as an unusual and rarely documented event.

Reserve officials have confirmed the sighting took place in the Jhirna zone and characterized it as a naturally occurring predatory event within the park's ecosystem. Tigers are known to occasionally take large snakes, in part because non-venomous species like pythons pose limited defensive threat compared with venomous snakes. Documented tiger predation in Corbett typically involves chital, sambar, and langurs, and confirmed sightings of tigers hunting large snakes are considerably less frequent, which is part of what has driven the video's reach online.

The sighting is notable in part because of where it happened. Jhirna is Corbett Tiger Reserve's only tourism zone that stays open for day safaris year-round, including through the monsoon months when the Dhikala, Bijrani, and Sonanadi zones close for day visits. Accessed via Dhela Gate, roughly 20 kilometers from Ramnagar, Jhirna is better known for sloth bear and wild elephant sightings than for high tiger density, which makes a predatory sequence of this kind uncommon on a Jhirna itinerary and one of the reasons the footage has traveled so widely.

No further action or investigation has been indicated by reserve authorities, who have treated the incident as a routine, if rarely witnessed, moment of jungle behavior.