Recently, local residents recorded a video showing what appeared to be a white tiger walking along a hill slope in the Avalanche forest area. In the footage, the animal is seen standing amid thorny bushes for some time before crossing the hill. The video has since gone viral on social media.

Forest department officials said the video was captured by tourists who visited the area four days ago. Since the footage was taken from a considerable distance, officials said they could not immediately confirm whether the animal was indeed a white tiger. They added that additional monitoring cameras would be installed in the area to verify the sighting, as reported by Daily Thanthi.

The Avalanche forest range, a popular tourist destination in the Nilgiris, is known for its rich wildlife population, including tigers, leopards and bears.

Viral video revives mystery of elusive big cat

In 2018, a wildlife photographer from Bengaluru captured images of two white tigers in the area and shared them with forest department officials. The photographs, which reportedly showed four tigers, including two white tigers, moving together, surprised officials and prompted the forest department to install automatic monitoring cameras at more than 15 locations across the forest range.

However, despite continued surveillance efforts, the movement of the white tigers was not recorded again, leading officials to believe the animals may have migrated to another forest region.

In 2021, reports emerged claiming that white tigers had been sighted near the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board residential quarters on the road leading to the Avalanche power station. However, no evidence was found to substantiate the claims.