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30 rescued lions captive even after three months
Nimesh Khakhariya | tnn | Jan 8, 2019, 04:00 IST

Rajkot: It’s well over three months now that 30 lions were captured after the deadly canine distemper virus (CDV) had claimed lives of 23 lions in Dalkhaniya range of Amreli district.
However, the prolonged captivity in the rescue centre in Devalia and Jamvala is taking a toll on them now.

Quote:According to sources, many of the lions have become extremely irritable and fights between them are also frequent.

Experts have flagged serious concerns over the delay in releasing these lions in the wild and said besides the adverse change in behaviour, their adaptability to the wild would also reduce. This threat looms on sub-adult or cubs in particular as they may find it difficult to hunt by staying in enclosed space for a long time.

Ferocious roars of lions are often heard from the rescue centre, which is indicative of the in-fighting among them. Care takers there are also under constant threat of attack due to the behavioural changes. It is also believed that the behavioural change in a captive lion in Devalia Safari Park due to coexistence with wild animals in enclosure had result in the fatal attack on a labourer result, Majority of the lions were shifted to Devalia due to space crunch in Jamvala. Sources close to the development told TOI that delay is being caused due to government procedures.

Priyvrat Gadhvi, member of State Wildlife Board said, “Wild animals brought for treatment are normally released within 10-15 days from the captivity. If there is more delay, it would eventually become unviable to release them in the forest as they willl lose their wildness.”

“I haven’t heard of instances where wild animals kept in prolonged captivity are released again, at least not in such big numbers,” he said. The 30 lions account for roughly 5% of the total lion population in Gir sanctuary and outside areas. In September last year, 23 lions had died within 20 days due to the CDV, a warning that the forest department had chosen to ignore despite being sounded off at least a year ago by experts.

H S Singh, member, National Wildlife Board said, “It is possible that such a long captivity will make it unviable to release them in wild. They may move close to human population if they are released after a long delay.

About the decision of the release he said “We have to find a habitant to release them, because the population of lions is increased in last few years because of conservation affords so a collective decision will be taken.”

Chief conservator of forest (wildlife circle), D T Vasavada, said, Due to the spread of CDV, we don’t want to release them in the Dalkhaniya range. They are under observation after vaccination and booster dose. There are some technical issues like timing of the release and the proper way to do so. We are taking the opinion of experts and a decision will be taken soon.”

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