Tigress Attacks Stray Dog, Drags It Away At Wildlife Park, Leaving Tourists In Shock [Video]

Wildlife safari tourists in India were left in shock after a tigress pounced on a stray dog standing close to a fleet of vehicles and dragged it away.

A video of the incident shared on social media showed a couple of jeeps filled with tourists and guards parked along a forest trail, while a stray dog stood beside the vehicle. Initially, some tourists could be heard saying they spotted a tiger in the distance.

Suddenly, the tiger ran toward the vehicles, and pounced on the stray dog. A tourist could be heard yelling, "it caught the dog." The feline then dragged the dog into a bush while surprised tourists looked on.

Officials with the Ranthambore National Park shared the video on their YouTube channel, and said the incident occurred on Monday. Authorities identified the feline as a dominant tigress named Sultana or T-107, NDTV reported. She was born in 2016.

The dog reportedly died during the attack, the Indian Express reported.

The video has gained over 47,000 views on Twitter and 23,000 on YouTube.

Wildlife Conservation Trust CEO and wildlife photographer Anish Andheria raised concern about the incident, saying a deadly viral disease found in dogs can decimate the tiger population.

"Tiger kills dog inside R’bhore. In doing so it is exposing itself to deadly diseases such as canine distemper that can decimate a tiger population in no time," Andheria said on Twitter. "Dogs have emerged as a big threat to wildlife. Their presence inside sanctuaries needs to be controlled."

"Canine distemper affects felines as well. Over 25 Asiatic lions died from the disease three years back in Gujarat," Andheria added in a later post.

One Twitter user pointed out that leopards have been preying on dogs for years, but had shown no signs of canine diseases. "They probably have much better immunity than tigers or Asiatic lions do. Dogs are not prey of these two large cats and hence their interaction is limited," Andheria responded on Twitter.

Attacks by big cats on pets and stray dogs are not uncommon in India. Last week, a video of a leopard leaping into a compounded territory and attacking a dog went viral on social media.