Bigcats News

[Shardul]

(04-06-2016, 08:31 AM)sanjay Wrote: I think it is bad news for Asiatic lions

That is not necessarily true. The whole purpose of finding a second home for the asiatic lions was to have a back up population in case the original population got wiped out due to disease or calamity. But that has already been taken care of since more than 200 out of the 500 odd lions are now outside of Gir, far from the sanctuary and have formed small sub populations by spreading out naturally.

Another factor to be taken into account is the conservation record of Gujarat. Trust me, this is my home state (Gir is 7 hrs from my place) and people here love the lions and take pride in having them, they are a big part of our culture here. We were taught about the Asiatic lions when we were in the 1st grade. Plus, the people here are naturally tolerant of wildlife. The maldharis of Gir have had a huge role in saving these animals. They have been very tolerant of the lions, even though their buffaloes have been a staple of the lions diet. How many times have you heard of lions being poisoned in Gujarat, compare that to the number of tigers poisoned or poached in MP? See what happened in Panna. MP should take care of their tigers first, then think about lions.  People come to MP to see tigers. That is what they are known for and that is what drives their tourism industry. If people want to see lions, they'll go to Africa.

In any case, Kuno is adjacent to ranthambhore and near madhav NP, both hold tiger populations. So where will the lions disperse out? Kuno isn't big enough to hold a self sustaining lion population. And what about the tigers coming from Ranthambhore to Kuno, and those few already in Kuno? Reply