Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project

[Shardul]

The whole point of the lion reintroduction project to Kuno was to have a backup population of the lions in case some natural calamity put the original Gir population in danger. People forget that out of the 500 or so asiatic lions alive, no more than 300 live in Gir, the rest have moved out to nearby forests and sanctuaries. Today, asiatic lions occupy 20,000 sq km of area in Gujarat, 10 times the size of Gir. Prides of lions have waded through human populated areas to find suitable forest patches. The lions themselves are choosing which areas to occupy, and they will continue to expand their territory, defying all "expert" predictions. In the future, they might move north into Rajasthan, or east into madhya Pradesh. Of course they will have to pass through human dense areas and it might take some time, but they have shown the ability to do so. Already, there are videos of lions moving into Bhavnagar city limits, so I'm pretty optimistic.

Reintroducing apex predators like lions and tigers is fraught with danger and contingent upon the local population's acceptance of these creatures, which is easier said than done. Tigers have already chosen Kuno by moving into it, let the lions decide which places are suitable for them. Who are we to make that decision on their behalf?

On a related note, the Government of Gujarat's point of view is simple in this matter. When lions were disappearing in the early 20th century from across asia, no one bothered saving them. The Gujarat govt, supported by its people, put so much time and effort into saving these creatures that now their population has grown substantially. So they did all the hard work and now everyone wants a piece of that cake? I may not agree with this POV, but I can certainly see its merit. Reply