Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

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Gujarat: Chotila boys in search for lioness?
Two young adult lions, had made Chobari grassland near Chotila their permanent home for the past 5 months. The lions entered Chotila range of Surendranagar forest division on November 19, 2019 via Hingolagadh Nature Education Sanctuary.

One of the lions feeds on a buffalo in Chotila range of Surendranagar district. (Photo courtesy: Gujarat FD) 

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The 2 lions that had been camping in Chotila range in Surendranagar district since November 2019 moved towards Gir forest by April 15th. About 4-years-old now, they travelled approximately 140 kilometres for a week & reached Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary north of Gir forest on Sunday, confirmeed by S.K.Srivastava, chief conservator of forests of Junagadh territorial forest circle. 

Forest officers expect that the two carnivores may rejoin their prides, but it is suspected that their prides are not from that area. The two carnivores were originally from Babra in Amreli district, not from anywhere near Gir. The two males travelled north & explored grasslands in revenue areas of Chotila, going as far away as Doliya in neighbouring district of Surendranagar in the northeast and till Gondal in Rajkot in the west during their 6-month-long expedition, forest officers said.
The topography and ecology of Chotila range has a high degree of resemblance to Gir forest, they added.

One of the lions was radio-collared on December 3 and since then, the forest department had been receiving hourly updates on GPS location of the two carnivores. The lions reached Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary — an established habitat of Asiatic lions and is part of greater Gir landscape — near Junagadh city at around 7 am on Sunday, they said. Their location was traced near Mount Girnar.
The place where they have reached has a presence of at least 25-30 resident lions in the area.

After reaching Chotila, from Amreli at southeast, they did several short explorations towards Rajkot & Surendranagar.

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The DCF Makwana said that that they could manage the two animals well during their stay in Surendranagar district. “There was no incident of direct man-animal conflict. We could sensitise and convince people… and farmers were even keeping water for the lions in their farms.” Only case in the last 6 months was reported from Keshvala village of Gondal on April 9 when they attacked a cattle-herder who sustained minor injuries.
The lions had preyed on 24 blue bulls and also attacked 35 livestock heads for which the forest department has paid Rs 5.15 lakh compensation, while a few claims are being processed. “We also surveyed open wells in agricultural lands in the lion territory and got paraptes constructed around 100 wells by paying farmers Rs 16 lakh assistance,” said the DCF, adding there was a probability of the two nomads returning to Chotila again.

Chief conservator of forest, Junagadh, S K Shrivastav said, “These lions stay at one location for nearly week and then move out to take a big round. Earlier too, they had reached near Gondal but returned to Chobari. However, this is the first time they have been see on this Bagasara route and it’s possible that they want to mix up with some pride or seeking some female.”
Forest officials suspect that they may go in the direction of Junagadh and return to Chobari with a lioness. Asiatic lion prides keep splitting with lioness often moving out with new mates & make long journeys away from Gir to available territories.

Officials believe the possibility of them returning with the lioness looks stronger as they are well settled in the grassland which also has a good prey base.
Deputy conservator of forest, Morbi, Sandeep Kumar, added, “The Junagadh-Chotila-Rajkot-Amreli is the future corridor that the lions have created.”


Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/...r-6359540/
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/rajkot/2...073100.cms
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