One tiger. One legend — Raju from Pench.
A really weird case from Pench. On October 4, 2025, in Pench, India, a surreal moment was captured on CCTV. The photo shows Raju Patel, a 52-year-old laborer, patting a tiger he mistook for a “big cat” after a late-night card game. Tipsy from homemade liquor, Raju stumbled onto a street where a sub-adult Bengal tiger, displaced by monsoon floods, had wandered from the nearby Pench Tiger Reserve. Villagers panicked, locking doors as the 150-200 kg beast roamed for hours. Unfazed, Raju approached, muttering, “Move aside, kitty,” and gently touched its head. For 5-10 minutes, they stood together-he even offered it a swig from his bottle, which it ignored. Forest officials arrived with spotlights and mild tranquilizers, guiding the exhausted tiger back to the woods by 3 AM. No one was harmed, and Raju became a local legend, shrugging, “It was just a pussy cat.”
Truth: his ignorance, fueled by a buzz, turned a potential tragedy into a wild tale.