Quote:Gujarat’s pride gets back its grasslands
TOI | Oct 28, 2020,

There are nearly 60 Asiatic lions living in 10 vidis spread across five districts viz Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir-Somnath. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

RAJKOT: ‘However hungry, a lion will never feed on grass,’ goes the popular idiom. But lack of grass can easily devour the feline’s favourite habitat!

Over the years, large swathes of Saurashtra’s natural grasslands were depleting fast due to growth of thick and wild vegetation even as the number of Asiatic lions were increasing fast. But in the last five years, these vidis (as they are locally known) have seen a spectacular revival across the region.
Experts say the staggering increase in cultivation of grass, expected to touch nearly 2 crore kg this year, is an encouraging sign not only for lion conservation but for the ecosystem that thrives in these sprawling lands.

*This image is copyright of its original author

In fact, two lions had settled in Chobari grassland near Chotila in Surendranagar district a few months ago.
Chief conservator of forest, Junagadh circle, S K Srivastava told TOI, “A lion pride easily gets food due to presence of herbivores in the grasslands. The hunting is also easy.”

Srivastav explained that concerted efforts were undertaken to reclaim the grasslands, which included removal of unwanted species like shrubs, gando baval (prosopis juliflora) and others. “This was supplemented by grass plantation.” he said, adding no other state in India has taken up this task.

Rani Gala vidi in Bhavnagar and Babra vidi in Junagadh district are the two biggest grasslands in Saurashtra, housing at least 60 lions.
Sandeep Kumar, deputy conservator of forest, Bhavnagar division added, “Grasslands are important in Bhavnagar for conservation of lions, leopards and other wild animals. For them, grasslands are a resting site and they prefer to live with the family."

Quote:Lioness’s curious 35-km run and 3 abandoned cubs
TOI | Nov 24, 2020

*This image is copyright of its original author

AHMEDABAD: On September 23, the state forest department found three lion cubs with no sign of their mother near Virpur village in the Visavadar forest range in Gir. The department looked for the lioness who gave birth to them for ten days but had no success. As they are in the process of closing their investigation, experts and wildlife lovers feel it’s too soon to call the cubs ‘motherless’. In the known history of Asiatic lions in their last abode, never has a mother lioness abandoned three cubs.

Experts see some hope because of another more recent incident. A fortnight before the cubs were found, a female lioness was captured by the department after it killed a farm labourer’s child in the same village. The lioness was released in the last week of October after the forest department’s investigation showed that the attack was an accident and she was not a maneater.

On being released in the Rajpara area of the Visavadar forest range, the lioness rushed to Virpur village, about 35km away. She made roaring calls as if she were looking for her cubs, according to a forest department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The lioness ran like lightning to the village where she had been caught. It happens to be the same place from where the cubs were found. This got wildlife lovers hopeful that the cubs would be hers. There were also no recent lioness deaths reported in the area,” said a lion expert.

After finding the cubs, the department searched the area for about ten days for her mother, said a forest department official. The cubs were given sanctuary at a village temple during this time.
“We reached the conclusion that the cubs have been abandoned,” the official added, saying that the lioness who was captured was not lactating.

Lion watchers say the department has not made any effort to bring the cubs close to the lioness after capturing them.
There is no harm in one attempt at bringing the cubs close to the lioness in a properly guarded manner, said a retired IFS officer, who worked in the lion landscape for more than a decade.
“It is a rare occurrence that a lioness abandons cubs and that too three of them. One possibility could be that the mother may have died and forest department officials are unable to find the body,” said H S Singh, who is a member of the National Board for Wildlife and an expert on lions.
A senior forest official said in the past there have been instances where cubs have refused to leave the area where their mother has died for days together.
He said is quite unnatural that the cubs would leave their mother or vice versa. In this instance, the mother may have been captured by the department and these cubs would have been found later and are now being labeled orphans.

Quote:Gujarat: Atleast 100 Asiatic lions held in captivity in the state!
TOI | Dec 4, 2020


The actual numbers could be higher as many lions captured from the wild due to disability/disease or conflict may not be included in the studbook.

*This image is copyright of its original author

AHMEDABAD: Even as debate over finding an alternative home for lions gains momentum after Asiatic lion's population rose to a robust 674 in the 2020 census, a sanctuary seems to be unfolding in the state in the form of captive population.
The state forest department has a large population of more than 100 lions held in captivity in various zoos and gene pools in Junagadh and adjacent districts of Saurashtra. These zoo bred as well as wild lions represent nearly 15% of the total Asiatic lion population of Gujarat found in the wild.

“There are about 115 lions that are in captivity at various zoos and wildlife parks. These include 85 lions at Sakkarbaug zoo alone,” said a senior government official aware of the development.

30 lions are behind bars after CDV outbreak in 2018
About three months ago, three cubs were captured and brought into Sakkarbaug zoo recently after the forest officials failed to locate their mother. One cub died some time ago, said sources.

*This image is copyright of its original author

There are as many as 30 lions that were languishing behind bars from 2018 when the first round of Canine Distemper Virus took a toll of about 29 lions in a span of less than one month. Few of these lions have died, according to a wildlife expert.

The uninformed and unscientific method of capturing lions from the wild must be discouraged, said a retired IFS official.“Wild lions should be allowed to remain wild and excessive interference in the name of treatment or vaccination and their unnecessary capture must be avoided,” he said.

Apart from Sakkarbag, few lions are held in captivity in Devaliya safari park, Ambardi safari park and Rampara and Barda gene pool, among others. There are six lions at a gene pool in Bhavnagar, said a forest department official.
A large number of lions in captivity are zoo bred. There has been a lot of demand in the past from zoos and wildlife parks outside Gujarat for lions which are top predators full of poise and grace.

“Lions and lionesses that are captured after they come in conflict with humans or due to injury are not easy to release back in the wild. They face territorial challenges from other lions and they can also cause risk to human lives,” said a lion expert. With nearly 50% of the Asiatic lion population spilling out of the protected areas after a rise in their population, there been a lot of talk finding new home for them. A recent proposal by WII has suggested few new sites, apart from Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, for possible future relocation.