Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

[Rishi]

Pressure mounting on Gujarat Govt to increase Protected Areas for surplus lions.
Hopefully something happens soon!

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Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in a report had criticised saying that the lack of extension of habitat continuity despite an increase in their population outside PAs has caused instances of death of lions.
The last extension of habitat for lions was approved in 2008, the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Since then, there had been more than 50% increase in lion population outside the Gir Sanctuary, but the state government had done little to expand the protected area.

As far back as 2005, the Chief Conservator of Forest of Junagadh had suggested to declare 30,152 hectares of forest patches in Amreli and Bhavnagar as sanctuary to provide safe corridor for lions moving out of Gir protected area. However, in 2006, the order was modified to declare the said area as a conservation area. The total area was also brought down to over 11,144 ha and further reduced to 10,953 ha in 2010," said the report.
It further pointed out that it began a procedure to transfer 4,811 ha of government wasteland in Amreli district to the forest department, but as of May 2017, the state’s revenue department was yet to have completed it!

The Genome Mapping and Conservation of Asiatic Lion, one of the projects recommended by the Task Force of Forest Department, was implemented poorly, being handled by an agency which did not possess required expertise and progress was slow.

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Asiatic lions in Gujarat increased to well beyond 600 by mid-2017.
Spread over 1,880 square km, Gir had the capacity to accommodate only half that, forcing lions to migrate to newer areas. Thus today, 40% of these lions now live in fragmented habitats at Amreli, Bhavnagar, Gir Somnath and Porbandar districts of the Saurashtra region, moving through 19 corridors covering 22,000+ square kms.

But there are obstructions in the free movement of lions through these corridors. State highways and railway lines cut through the lions’ land. These apart, there are ports, cement factories and limestone mines along the coastal corridor abutting the sanctuary.

An expenditure of Rs 25.35 crore was incurred on construction of chain link fencing 30kms along the Rajula-Pipava railway tracks to stop lions from getting crushed under moving trains. However, lions entered the fenced area on eight occasions, claiming 14 lions in the past two years.
“The fencing has put an additional obstruction to wild cats in moving along the coastal corridor,” said Jethva of the Lion Nature Foundation.

Uncovered wells are another cause of worry. The forest department says 25,000 wells in and around the sanctuary have been covered with parapets. “But lions are venturing into newer areas and open wells will continue to remain death traps,” Nala said.

Many households have rigged their homes, crop fields and cattle pens with high barbed wire and electric fences. According to residents of most villages, the fencing and safety measures are a “small sacrifice” they have made for the lions, knowing little that these have caused more harm than good.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The state government recently admitted in the Gujarat Assembly that around 184 lions died in two years (2016 and 2017), compared to the yearly average of 62 deaths between 2010-2015.

Of the 184 deaths, 32 lions died due to unnatural causes, which isn't that alarming a number to many.

Wildlife experts say translocation of Gir lions to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh is a possible solution. 
But critics of this move argue that the best wildlife practices of Gir cannot be replicated there, pointing out that the entire RTR-KPWLS-MNP landscape is a hostile human matrix – poaching, high prevalence of licensed and unlicensed firearms, fragmented forest corridors due to encroachments, rampant illegal sand & stone mining etc. 
The tiger-lion conflict issue compounds the threat!

While the Supreme Court in 2013 approved the relocation to Kuno, Kishor Kotecha of Wildlife Conservation Trust, Rajkot filed a petition in the top court challenging the relocation plan. The top court will hear the plea this April. “Natural deaths have increased due to rise in population. We must try to restrict the number of unnatural deaths,” he said.

Many of the locals don’t want the relocation to happen either. They say they don’t mind lions lurking near their homes as they are part of the family. “No one gives away a family member,” one said, responding when asked about the court order... Reply