Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

[Sanju]

Amreli: In the east, the death of three lions in two days, chronic wildlife, same old cause- infighting said by officials.
(lol, looks like Gir lions are born to fight and die unlike any lion/animal/even organism on earth- Gujarat even know what is infighting?)
Even though one of the three cubs is a cub died 2 days ago, this matter came to light today by officials forcibly, to tell the truth to Mera News. There is a feeling of resentment among lion lovers. Ban in the inside of Gir Protected area for some days in two Birbhad forests of Savarkundla taluka range. Even 10-month-old lion died in Paniya range.
Amreli Lion cubs
Three lion cubs die due to infighting in 48 hours in Gir
The Gujarat forest department on Sunday said that while two cubs died in Vadala beat in Savarkundla district on Saturday, the third one died at Paniya range in Amreli district on Friday.
india Updated: Nov 26, 2018, 08:57 IST HT Correspondent Hindustan Times, Ahmedabad
lion cubs dead, lion cubs, lion cubs in Gir Lion cubs at Gir National Park and Sanctuary(HT File Photo)
Three Asiatic lion cubs have reportedly died due to infighting in the last 48 hours at the Gir National Park and Sanctuary– the last natural abode of Asiatic lions in India.
The Gujarat forest department on Sunday said that while two cubs died in Vadala beat in Savarkundla district on Saturday, the third one died at Paniya range in Amreli district on Friday.
Both the sites are located near Dalkhania range, where 23 lions died in October due to infighting and canine distemper virus.
“Post-mortem of the two cubs that died at Vadala has been done by a panel of the doctors. They died due to infighting,” said a forest official.
The forest officials have said that injury marks have been found on their bodies. A pride consisting of 3 cubs, two lionesses and a lion has made Vadala their home. Since the carcasses were found, the department has not spotted the lions in this region.
All the deaths in the recent past have been reported from the Gir east division. For administrative purposes, the Gir forest is divided into east and west divisions. The national park, with Sansan as its center, is located in the west division.
In the wake of the recent spate of deaths, the state government set up a new forest office for Greater Gir area in the east division. It has also announced a Rs 50-crore veterinary hospital for Gir and upgradation of 8 rescue centres.
At the Jamwala rescue centre, 31 lions from Dalkhania ranger were kept in isolation for vaccination following the outbreak of canine distemper virus in the range.
First Published: Nov 26, 2018 08:24 IST
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new...PSRpO.html
In the east, infighting leaves 3 lion cubs dead in 48 hours in Gir The Gujarat forest department ON SUNDAY SAID that while two cubs died in Vadala beat in Savarkundla district on Saturday in which one of them is 4 months old and the 10-months-old lion cub death in a white beak in the water range, the third one died at Paniya range in Amreli district on Friday.
http://www.meranews.com/news/view/amreli...asT4SGqEg4
https://translate.google.co.in/translate...t=&act=url
2 Lion Cubs Found Dead In Gir, Officials Suspect Infighting
In September, 23 lions in died in Gir forest area, 17 of them were infected with Canine DistemperVirus (CDV) and bacterial fever (actually Babesiosis Protozoal infection).
The cubs were found dead in different parts of Gir forest on Sunday.

Ahmedabad:
Three lion cubs were found dead in different parts of Gujarat's Gir forest on Saturday, another one on Friday a forest department official said.
Chief Conservator of Forests (Junagadh Wildlife Circle) DT Vasavada said both the cubs, found in Paniya and Savarkundla ranges of Gir forest, possibly died of infighting and the carcasses had been sent for post mortem(lol).
In the case of the cub found dead in Paniya range, he said a male lion had been spotted by forest staff in the vicinity and it appeared to be an intruder.

Following the deaths, 36 lions were shifted to three rescue centres and administered vaccine till now they are not released in the wild perhaps because of they might have lost wild instincts to release into wild.
https://www.ndtv.com/cities/2-lion-cubs-...ng-1953119

*This image is copyright of its original author

October 6, 2018
Asian Lions need a New Home (old actually)
The magnificent Asiatic lion is under threat.
Twenty-three lions have died in as many days in the eastern division part of Gujarat’s Gir sanctuary. While mass mortalities in wildlife are always a cause for concern, this case is even more worrisome as the big cat population in Gujarat is the last of the Asiatic lions in the wild.
In 2013, the Supreme Court had issued an order that lions from Gujarat be relocated to the Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh as a check against the threat of an epidemic(earlier PPR, CDV and Babesiosis, Pnuemonia, maggots, ticks and mite infections, various other infections...etc..,). But even wild animals are subject to State politics. Gujarat has been unwilling to part with its lions, calling them “its pride” in an affidavit.
Following the series of deaths, preliminary reports said that the cats have been killed by disease, most likely to be infectious. Some others have died due to poisoning and infighting. On October 3, the Supreme Court, noting that the death of so many lions was a serious matter, asked the Central government to look into it.
New-age conservation:
In its 2013 order, the Supreme Court had said: “Asiatic lion, it has been noticed, has been restricted to only one single habitat, i.e. the Gir National Forest and its surrounding areas and an outbreak of the possible epidemic or natural calamity might wipe off the entire species. A smaller population with limited genetic strength are more vulnerable to diseases and other catastrophes in comparison to large and widespread population.” The court also noted how 30% of the lion population in Tanzania’s Serengeti was killed due to an outbreak of canine distemper, a viral disease that affects animals. Gujarat’s response to this was that lions are now spread over the Greater Gir region and this reduces the threat. It has also had an intense, managerial response to the disease — when ill, lions are routinely picked up, medically treated, and then released.
Wildlife conservation concerns itself with maintaining ecological processes and reducing threats to endangered species.
It does not entail treating wild animals for disease (in the way domestic animals are) as this can go against the processes of natural selection. Treating wild animals appears to be a caring thing to do. But it is not conducive to the ‘natural’ process of life and death, and ultimately compromises immunity. Another celebrity example of this kind of management was Machli, the tigress from Ranthambhore in Rajasthan. Known as the world’s most photographed tigress, she lived for 20 years before her death in 2016. This is because she was treated medically, and often fed artificially.
To be fair to Gujarat, the lines of what comprises wildlife conservation are getting blurred. When wild animals go extinct locally, they are reintroduced — as in the case of tigers in Sariska, Rajasthan. When hungry, they are fed artificially, and even provided salts as supplements, an example being the Hangul (Red deer) population in Dachigam, Jammu and Kashmir. In other parts of India, wild animals are funnelled through artificial trenches, barriers and fences. This is wildlife conservation in the age of man, where protected areas sometimes resemble zoos.
Yet even the most flexible of conservationists would agree that intensive artificial medical treatment of wild animals does not augur well for long-term sustainability. The role of wildlife managers should be to reduce unnatural threats, not unnaturally prolong life. While Gujarat has done a good job of conserving its lions(for outside world), it should also turn its attention to reducing the drivers of disease, which includes controlling feral dog populations.
On metapopulations:-
Gujarat submitted before the Suprem e Court that one of the reasons it did not want to part with the lions was because there are metapopulations in the State(lol). Metapopulations(connected by corridors and are part of the original range or mere extention of range) may be geographically separate but have interactions and an exchange of individuals. Risk of disease transmition and inbreeding continues. Do gujarat know what is a meta population or pretending to decieve?
Gujarat had said to the Supreme Court, “Current Asiatic lion population is not a single population (it is not even population, it is sub-population level only)confined to one place.” It consists of “metapopulation spread over several locations within the Greater Gir Region”, adding that “good conservation practices and intensive wildlife healthcare, has lead to the epidemic free regime”(lol). Crucially though, these areas are connected to each other and this does not address the main concern of creating geographically distant populations.
Undoubtedly, after the lion deaths, Gujarat should work towards colonising new habitats outside the Gir landscape within or even outside the State. However, there are spatial limitations in this industrialised State. An option is the Barda wildlife sanctuary. But Barda is too close to Gir, and this cannot be confused with creating isolated populations but, It would simply mean increasing suitable lion range from its present, much smaller area which is good but not the solution.
Finally, there is no getting around the fact that a geographically separate "population" of Asiatic lions needs to be created.
A good track record (for outside world) for lion conservation does not in any way preclude a good long-term strategy.
Image: Asian Lions by Edward Lear, ZSL.
This first appeared in The Hindu.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/n...epage=true
https://indienvironment.com/2018/10/06/a...-new-home/

Neha Sinha is a wildlife conservationist.
https://twitter.com/nehaa_sinha

Poachers killed a lion in 2016, admits Gujarat govt.
Himanshu Kaushik | TNN | Oct 28, 2018, 07:04 IST

The Rajya Sabha was told that 50 unnatural lion deaths were reported between 2015 and 2018
AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has always maintained that Gir is a safe haven for the Asiatic Lions, but in reply to a question in the budget session of the Rajya Sabha this year, the state government for the first time since 2007 admitted that a lion was killed by poachers in June 2016.
Giving details of lion deaths in Gir from 2015 to 2018, on a question raised by Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh (my state), Dr. T Subbarami Reddy, Union ministry of forest and environment informed the House that the poaching incident was reported in Vadal. The Rajya Sabha was told that 50 unnatural deaths were reported between 2015 and 2018.
Last year, one of the absconding accused in the 2007 lion poaching case, Sarfaraz Qureshi, was arrested from Fatehpur area in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh by a team of Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). Eighteen persons have so far been arrested in the 2007 poaching case.
According to Sanjay Mehta, the chief conservator of forests (CCF), the incident had taken place in Vadal area and one Balu Moji, a resident of the village, was also arrested. "He had laid the trap in the revenue area. During an investigation, Moji claimed that the trap was not for lions but for animals like neelgai," Mehta said, adding, "The case is pending in a court and Moji is out on bail." A former CCF, who had served in Junagadh, said that usually, farmers lay such traps for catching neelgais and to keep them away from the fields. "We usually do not register such cases as poaching," he said(lol).

Even IUCN has in its report in 2016 stated that though the lion population outside the protected area of the Gir sanctuary has increased by more than 400%, these lions in Gujarat are under threat of illegal trade of body parts, similar to that in Africa. They need forests to live not vilages, farms, mills and cities

The IUCN report states, "Illegal trade in lion body parts for medicinal purposes is considered a threat to African lion sub-populations as well as to the small sub-population in India's Gir forest."
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city...397695.cms Reply