Footage showing safari tourists crowding tiger sparks outrage

Footage shows Indian safari vehicles crowding around the tiger in actions that appear to violate tourism and safety standards.

Video footage showing tourists crowding a tiger as the animal attempted to navigate a forest road in India has sparked outrage on social media.

The accompanying footage, shared this week by Parvenu Kaswan of the Indian Forest Service, shows tourists in safari vehicles shouting in excitement while surrounding the tiger and causing the animal to become wary.

“What [the] tiger must be thinking?” Kaswan stated via X.

The vehicle operators’ actions, which appear to violate tourism and safety standards, inspired several viewers to express their displeasure.

“Such horrible tourism,” one follower wrote.

“How can this be ever permitted?” another asked. “This is absolutely preposterous. Tigers are not for entertainment and they don’t exist to promote tourism. What is being done to stop this?”

NDTV in India reported that the tourists were “making an uneasy situation for the tiger” and described their behavior as “disturbing.”

Wild animals are supposed to be observed from a distance that’s safe for the animals and tourists. Actions that alter a wild animal’s behavior, such as those shown in the video, could be deemed harassment.

The 2023-24 LSU’s women’s basketball team could change the sport

This LSU women’s basketball team is one that will change the dynamics of the sport.

When LSU faced Iowa in the NCAA women’s basketball national title game last year, 9.9 million people tuned in to watch, setting a viewership record for the sport.

It was a triumph for women’s basketball. Throughout March, the women’s game drew more and more attention, culminating in that title game featuring [autotag]Angel Reese[/autotag] and Caitlin Clark, perhaps the sport’s two biggest stars.

Women’s basketball’s influence is growing, and with the season set to begin in less than a month, look no further than Baton Rouge to see why.

The 2023-24 Tigers are uniquely positioned to take the visibility of women’s basketball up another level.

It starts with Reese. The star forward recently signed with Reebok as part of the company’s efforts to reboot its basketball brand.

Reese drew attention last year not just because of her play, which was good enough to earn her All-American honors, but because of the way she played.

She brought an edge to the court. It was controversial at times, but Reese embraced that too.

Then you have [autotag]Hailey Van Lith[/autotag].

Van Lith transferred to LSU in the spring after leading Louisville to an Elite 8 appearance. She brings a big personality of her own to Baton Rouge.

And also like Reese, her play and attitude earned her a deal of her own with Adidas.

Something’s changed. Women’s’ basketball is no longer taking a backseat. We’re seeing major companies make these athletes central parts of marketing campaigns. More and more people are tuning in to watch games. More and more news coverage is being devoted to a sport that’s always deserved it.

It’s gone mainstream. You saw it last March. Reese, Clark and Van Lith weren’t just being talked about by fans of women’s basketball, they were being talked about by a wider sports fan audience.

So much so, that Reese’s star is big enough to warrant her some space in Times Square.

LSU isn’t the only place this is happening. Iowa and Clark have a good case to make too and UConn continues to churn out star after star.

But there’s something different with what’s happening in Baton Rouge. This team is the perfect combination of heroes and villains. The dream team factor this year will only add to that.

You’re rooting for them or against them, but either way, you care.

There will be people who have never watched a women’s basketball game in their life that will end up watching this team, because that’s the type of attention it’s going to get.

There will be kids who decide to play basketball because of this team. That’s what influence is and LSU has it.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Footage shows that lions, tigers aren’t always kings of beasts

Indian Forest Service employees have shared footage suggesting that lions and tigers do not always own the right of way in their respective domains.

Indian Forest Service employees have shared footage suggesting that lions and tigers do not always own the right of way in their respective domains.

Ramesh Pandey’s footage shows a napping tiger smartly dashing off to allow a large elephant to pass on a forest trail.

“Lord of the jungle versus King of the forest. Here the titans avoid a clash and give space to each other,” Pandey described in his X post.

That drew a response from Susanta Nanda, who posted footage showing two male lions waking and exiting a trail to allow two rhinos to pass. (Both clips are featured below.)

Nanda: “Neither the Tiger, nor the lions are king of the jungle… It’s all situation specific.”

Both men routinely feature wild animal behavior in their posts.

Where Clemson’s 2024 class is ranked on each major recruiting site

All three major recruiting sites have Clemson’s 2024 class as the No. 1 in the ACC.

With national signing day less than seven months away, Clemson’s 2024 recruiting class has emerged as one of the best in the nation.

The Tigers have 17 commitments in the 2024 cycle, highlighted by five-star linebacker Sammy Brown and five-star wide receiver Bryant Wesco.

There are still some holes in the class, such as the offensive line, where the Tigers have just one commitment as of Wednesday morning. And as Dabo Swinney mentioned last week, he doesn’t expect to go after a quarterback recruit this year in hopes that Christopher Vizzina can redshirt and essentially be that signal-caller for multiple years.

That said, here is how each major recruiting website ranks the Tigers’ 2024 haul thus far:

Brian Kelly downplays Notre Dame’s playoff spot in 2021

Overblown? What world do you think we’re living on, Brian?

In December of 2021, Notre Dame came within a Georgia win over Alabama in the SEC Championship of likely making their third trip to the College Football Playoff.  However, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] thinks that the idea Notre Dame had a chance at the CFP when left was overblown.

Those aren’t our words, those are his.

The LSU head coach was on the Bussin’ With the Boys podcast and conversation began by discussing his adjustment to the south.  He was then asked directly about leaving Notre Dame while the Irish were in the middle of a playoff chase, something he said was overblown.

“I think that’s overblown a little bit. We weren’t right in the middle of it, we kind of knew where we were going to be in terms of that but that’s neither here nor there.  I think what’s most important was LSU and leadership. Scott Woodward. I’ve known Scott a long time. Familiar with him, wanting to be in the SEC.”

Kelly continued with what made the SEC so intriguing:

“You’re talking about each and every week playing against (Nick) Saban and (Kirby) Smart, and the great teams in this conference, I wanted to be measured by the best and coming down here and playing against them and I had never done that so it was one of those opportunities for me that allowed me to come to a university that had slipped from its standards…and then getting a chance to be with the right people.”

Alright, I don’t want to be the kind of person that is more worried about what Brian Kelly does at LSU than what Notre Dame does with anything.  I do need to take a moment to call out some pure hogwash though.

Notre Dame was off for championship week and entered that weekend ranked sixth.  Oklahoma State was rated fifth and lost to Baylor in the Big 12 championship.  Literally all that needed to happen for Notre Dame to make the playoff was for Georgia to take care of business against Alabama, something they failed to do in the SEC championship but did a month later in the national championship.

Yeah, entirely “overblown”.

Congressman Kelly speaking falsehoods into existence in order to try and change the narrative.

It’s fine you wanted to go to LSU so badly that even another potential CFP trip with Notre Dame couldn’t keep you there.  It’s your life, go live it. Just don’t (rescinded) pour water on my shoes and tell me it’s raining.

He did go on to mention the difficulty of leaving the players.

“The players. It’s always about the relationships that you have with players. That’s always the most difficult. You never leave on your terms. It’s always somebody else that dictates the timeline. I don’t dictate the timeline. It’s the other university that dictates the timeline. You never get to say, ‘I’m leaving when I want to leave.’ That’s what makes it difficult. Every stop along the way that I’ve left, it’s never been a great time. But if you’re making that decision to leave, the most difficult part of it is the relationships that you have with your players.”

You can check out the entire interview at the link above.

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Watch: Elephant shows tiger ‘who’s boss’ at watering hole

Video footage from a wilderness reserve in India shows an elephant chasing a tiger from its watering hole.

Video footage from a wilderness reserve in India shows an elephant refusing to allow a tiger to access its watering hole.

“Tigers and elephants tolerate each other fairly well in the wild,” Susanta Nanda of the Indian Forest Service stated via Twitter. “But at times gentle the giant shows who the boss is.”

The footage shows the tiger roaming the perimeter as the elephant keeps a close watch from the water.

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As the wary tiger begins its approach, the elephant exits the pond and circles toward the tiger, ultimately chasing the cat away with a slow-speed charge and a trumpet blast.

Nanda noted the annoying sound of ringing phones in the footage and asked followers: “Should mobiles be banned inside the protected areas?”

Nanda did not provide video credit.

Post-Masters, you can still enjoy these pictures of a tiger in the woods

Not the tiger you were searching for? Whoops.

If you enjoyed FTW’s superb owl coverage, you’re going to be thrilled with our Masters Tournament tiger woods content. No, not Tiger Woods. We’re talking about living breathing tigers in the woods. They can’t play golf, but they’re still pretty cool.

These stripey creatures have inspired everything from adorable cartoon characters to one of the world’s most famous jock jams. Few other animals can claim such honors. Unfortunately, despite tigers’ fierce and impressive features, they’re also endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Show your appreciation for this fascinating species by exploring the gallery of tiger pics below and supporting conservation organizations.

Twitter reacts to yet another LSU special teams blunder, this one perhaps the worst

LSU’s special teams strike again and nobody in South Bend is surprised yet again.

If you’ve been paying attention to LSU football at all this season, you’ve noticed a great many positives in their turnaround. A year after chasing Ed Orgeron from the post, [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has the Tigers playing in the SEC championship game after winning the SEC West. He’s done a ton well and right in 2022.

One of those things, however, is not special teams, which have been a disaster for the Tigers all year. If you paid attention to Notre Dame football from 2010-2021, you’re not surprised. Headed by Kelly with special teams being led Brian Polian for the majority of those years, the philosophy surrounding special teams was essentially “don’t it mess up.”

Well, shocking to nobody, LSU has had poorly performing special teams units all year. They saved their best, or worst, for the SEC championship game, however. Check it out below and then see some of the reactions to an all-time blunder by the Tigers.

Cowardly Missouri reportedly passes on Liberty in favor of security

The Border War will have to wait a little big longer before it resumes. Blame Missouri.

Back in 2011, just days after the University of Missouri announced it would be abandoning the Big 12 for the greener pastures of the Southeastern Conference, then-Mizzou athletic director Mike Alden pleaded to keep a century-old rivalry alive with Kansas.

The Border War stretched back not just to the 1800s, but the bad blood pre-dated the Civil War itself. Now Missouri was leaving its longtime rival—helping throw the conference into turmoil as Texas A&M went to the SEC, Colorado joined the Pac 12 and Nebraska moved to the Big Ten—and Alden just couldn’t understand why the Jayhawks wouldn’t want to continue playing the Tigers.

“Everyone in here recognizes that our rivalry with the University of Kansas is one of the great rivalries in our country,” Alden told reporters in November 2011. “It’s gone on for, I believe, 119 years, and it’s certainly our hope and our desire to continue to participate against the University of Kansas in every sport that we play — and for the next 119 years.”

At the time Alden argued that traditional rivals like Florida-Florida State, Georgia-Georgia Tech, Kentucky-Louisville and Clemson-South Carolina continue to face each other despite playing in different conferences.

Also at the time, Mizzou had won five of the last six Border War games in football, taking a 57–54–9 all-time series lead as KU football began its long trek to rock bottom. Similarly, the Tigers’ men’s basketball program had seen a quick resurgence under head coach Frank Haith and was ranked in the Top 25.

Of course Missouri wanted the series to continue. The school could have its cake and eat it, too, jumping to a much more powerful conference while reaping the benefits of its previous commitments. All while their programs continued to excel.

Keep that in mind for what you’re about to read next.

On Friday, after days of speculation that Mizzou and Kansas were set to renew their football rivalry at the Liberty Bowl, Brett McMurphy of Action Network reported the Tigers specifically declined not just an invite to the Liberty Bowl, but any bowl game in which they would have to face the Jayhawks.

Per McMurphy:

The Jayhawks, who are making their first bowl appearance since 2008, were not opposed to playing the Tigers in a bowl, sources said.

Schools provide their bowl preferences and the conferences, bowls and schools usually come to an agreement whenever possible. It’s not unusual for schools to request not playing certain opponents in the postseason, sources said.

The Liberty Bowl is one of three that matches SEC vs. Big 12 opponents. The other two are the Sugar and Texas bowls. Missouri and Kansas are both 6-6.

“A 6-6 team dictating who they don’t want to play in a bowl?” an industry source said. “What a world. What a world.”

The Jayhawks and Tigers are both 6-6 but Kansas’ reputation is soaring after two years under head coach Lance Leipold. Missouri, apparently, wants none of that and would rather play the likes of East Carolina in the Gasparilla Bowl, per McMurphy’s projections.

In other words, Missouri would rather play a lesser program—in a game that would surely attract fewer casual and diehard fans—than risk a loss to Kansas.

Twitter, message boards and pretty much any forum college fans use to communicate immediately lit up once this news broke. Kansas fans were laughing at Mizzou fans for being afraid to play the Jayhawks after more than a decade of mocking them. Missouri fans were outraged their athletic department would put them in a position to look inferior to Kansas. College fans across the board were reaching for popcorn as the Border War caught fire once again.

The noise got so loud that Mizzou’s official Twitter account had to refute McMurphy’s report in a way that wouldn’t make the Tigers look weak, but also wouldn’t commit to playing Kansas.

A short while later, McMurphy was on local radio in Kansas City doubling down on his reporting. Missouri was avoiding Kansas at all costs.

So let’s zoom out for a moment. A decade after leaving the Big 12, Mizzou hasn’t finished atop the SEC East since 2014. It hasn’t won more than six games in a season since 2018. And it’s gone from trying to goad the Jayhawks into continuing their rivalry to actively running away from playing them in an exhibition game.

Fortunately for fans of chaos, the Tigers can’t run forever. Missouri and Kansas have already resumed their basketball rivalry—with the Tigers hosting the Jayhawks next on December 17—and their football series will resume in Columbia in 2025.

Missouri finally got its wish of being able to play in the SEC and continue facing Kansas. Turns out the Tigers may have only wanted that outcome when they knew it wasn’t possible.

LSU’s New Year’s Six chances rest on Georgia game

The Tigers went from being a playoff hopeful to needing a win in the SEC Championship to make it to the New Year’s Six after the loss to Texas A&M.

Ranked No. 5 in the country in the regular season’s final week, LSU had a path to the playoff. A New Year’s Six appearance was probable — whether it be Sugar, Cotton or Orange.

LSU’s loss to Texas A&M has shifted the outlook.

The top of the SEC is crowded. Georgia is a playoff lock and Tennessee and Alabama sit in the top 10 as well. Alabama and Tennessee are well positioned at 10-2, a mark better than LSU’s 9-3 record.

The odds of the SEC getting four teams in the NY6 aren’t great. With Georgia headed to the playoff, Alabama will likely head to the Sugar Bowl as the SEC’s highest-ranked non-playoff team.

That would result in Tennessee being sent to Miami for the Orange Bowl, leaving the Cotton Bowl as LSU’s last hope.

This year’s Cotton Bowl will feature two at-large teams, one of which will be the Group of Five representative.

The latest projections have a 10-2 Penn State team assuming the other spot. An SEC team hoping for that bid would also need to fend off any Pac-12 team creeping up the rankings.

A 9-3 Florida State team with a head-to-head win over LSU could get it, too.

For now, LSU looks destined for the Citrus Bowl. LSU’s most recent Citrus Bowl appearance came in 2017, where they lost to Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame.

LSU won the Citrus Bowl the year prior with a strong defensive performance against Lamar Jackson and Louisville.

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