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Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos
Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos
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Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos
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Virus, outdated census method mar Gujarat’s lion numbers
*This image is copyright of its original author Lions resting in the Gir sanctuary Efficacy of vaccine for CDV not known, data unavailable An outdated methodology and the true mortality from a virus affecting India’s lions dent the credibility of the Gujarat government’s claims on its lion population. In a press statement on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted results of the 2020 Asiatic Lion Census that put the number of lions at 674, a 28% rise from 2015 and which is a similar rise from 2010. A wildlife biologist who closely works with the Union Environment Ministry on wildlife surveys said that the canine distemper virus (CDV) that killed at least 36 lions in Gir, Gujarat in 2018 had not ebbed. This was in spite of the government inoculating lions with an imported vaccine, details of whose efficacy were never publicised. “There have been several more deaths from the virus since January but no data about these have been shared,” the biologist told The Hindu. 100-year-old method Yadvendradev Jhala, senior scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), an autonomous organisation of the Union Environment Ministry, who led India’s quadrennial tiger survey, said the Gujarat government uses a 100-year-old method to count lions that would not “stand the scrutiny of contemporary science”. This approach, called the Direct Beat Verification or Block Count method, involves officials from the State wildlife department laying stake at watering holes, where lions slake their thirst, across the animals’ territorial range. This year, from June 5-6, department officials monitored the numbers of the lions. In normal years, alongside these forest officials, there would be independent experts and observers from non-governmental organisations. This year, the process involved 1,400 personnel according to a press release from the Chief Wildlife Warden, Gujarat. Normally, about 2,000 persons would be involved and the monitoring would be done over two days. The reduction in number of people involved was due to travel restrictions imposed for the pandemic. Under or over count Dr. Jhala said that newer methods such as camera trapping and identifying lions based on permanent marks on their body, and statistical estimates based on the animals’ predatory patterns and numbers of their prey base — all of which were used to count tigers — were more scientifically precise. In a research paper published in the peer-reviewed open access journal PloS One in February, he and colleagues, based on a survey in Gir, identified 67 individual lions from 368 sightings. “Using photographs and other markers, we can reliably identify individuals but we have been never allowed to do a census. I have been trying for 15 years. With the current methods and the fact that lions can range as much as 700 sq. km., you can both grossly under count or over count,” he told The Hindu. An official from the Union Environment Ministry’s wildlife division said wildlife was exclusively in the domain of the States. Organisations such the WII aided the National Tiger Conservation Authority in analysing tiger numbers, and in ensuring actual sightings and raw data were collected from the States. “With the lion, it’s entirely in one State and the Gujarat government follows a prescribed protocol. The same applies to, say, rhinos, elephants. Camera traps are not yet suitable for lions as they don’t have clearly discernible permanent physical features, unlike in tigers, which have unique stripes. There are lots of ideas but going ahead, we will consider newer methods that are practical. The CDV was an issue in 2018 but this year, we haven’t yet got any report of such deaths,” the official said. ‘Outside protected area’ H.S. Singh, a member of India’s National Board for Wildlife and an expert on Gir lions estimates 26 lions to have succumbed to CDV this year. “The virus is endemic in livestock and periodically infects lions so only large-scale vaccination of livestock can help. However, I don’t think it significantly decreases the population. That 60% of the lions are outside the protected area and increasing is a more serious issue.” A forest official familiar with Gujarat’s lions said that the lion count was likely to be an underestimate, adding, “There are close to 700 lions outside the protected area, say reports. Higher numbers could mean Gujarat may have to send some lions to neighbouring Madhya Pradesh.” Beyond wildlife, lion translocation is also a political issue. Over the years, Gujarat has bitterly contested sending lions to the alternate sanctuary of Kuno-Palpur in Madhya Pradesh. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/v...806558.ece
92 lions already dead in Gir this year, report flags
Union govt was aware of high mortality even as PM Modi played up rise in count  *This image is copyright of its original author In the first five months of 2020, 92 Gir lions have died, with 60 deaths in just April and May. Photo: Ishan Kukreti / CSE Ninety-two Asiatic lions have died in Gujarat’s Asiatic Lion Landscape (ALL) since January 2020, according to a Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) committee report. ALL includes Gir National Park and Sanctuary and covers eight districts of Gujarat, including Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Gir-Somnath, Botad and Jamnagar, according to the 14th Lion Population Estimation Report 2015. Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated a historic rise of 29 per cent in the Asiatic lion population — 151 between 2015 and 2020 — on June 10, 2020. “Some lions have died of in-fighting and many have died of the canine distemper virus (CDV). At the Jasadhar rescue centre, the two lions shown to the committee were suffering from CDV,” a source with the MoEF&CC who has the report, told Down To Earth (DTE). The rescue centre is a Gujarat forest department treatment facility for injured and sick lions. The trend has been worsening: 36 lions died in May, 24 in April, 10 in March, 12 in February and 10 in January. Quote:The deaths include 19 males, 25 females, 42 cubs and six unidentified lions. The maximum number of lions — 59 — have died in the Gir East Division, Dhari, the area where CDV outbreak happened in 2018. While there is no baseline data for lion mortality in ALL, the Gujarat government in March 2018 had said that 184 lions died in two years, Ravi Chellam, Asiatic lion expert and chief executive of Bengaluru-based non-profit Metastring Foundation, said. This time, 92 have died in five months, while 60 have died in just April and May. However, the Gujarat forest department has denied the presence of CDV. “There is no CDV here in Gir. We sent a good number of samples to be tested for babesia and CDV in April, but are yet to get the results,” Chief Conservator of Forest, Junagarh Wildlife Circle, DT Vasavada said. “Only 46 have died since January. In May, 13 died and in April, 15 died. Of these, some died of old age, some drowned, some suffered snake bites and some died of electrocution. Around 17-18 have died because of disease. We have sent 20 samples to our lab in Sakkarbaug zoo and the veterinary lab in Junagadh in April. The results are awaited,” he added. “This issue of CDV is a media-versus-Gujarat government thing; it has no truth to it,” he claimed. The MoEF&CC had formed the committee on May 29. It comprised the assistant inspector general of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, joint director of the ministry’s wildlife division, a representative from the Wildlife Institute of India and a veterinary doctor from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly. “The committee should visit the area immediately. They are required to inquire into the coincidence of death, cause of death, preventive and prophylactic measures adopted and other necessary details of the high mortality rate of Asiatic lions in Gir,” the MoEF&CC order constituting the committee said. The committee visited the area between May 31 and June 1 and a draft was submitted to the MoEF&CC in the first week of June. So, while the prime minister was praising the rise of lion numbers in Gujarat showing the soft side and hiding the other side, the government was fully aware of the high rate of Asiatic lion mortality in Gir. On June 10, a two-page press release from the Press Information Bureau said the 15th Asiatic Lion Population Estimation was scheduled during June 5-6, 2020, but owing to the present COVID-19 situation, it was not conducted as planned. “In order to develop an understanding of the current population status and distribution of Asiatic lions in the Asiatic Lion Landscape, the Gujarat forest department conducted an exercise familiarly called Poonam Avlokan on June 5-6, 2020, using the Direct Beat Verification also known as the Block Count method,” the press release said. However, according to a forest department official in Gujarat, the publicising of the Asiatic lion figures is being done to divert the attention from the high rate of lion mortality in Gir. “The committee report was with the government by the time this month’s Poonam Avlokan started. So, to divert attention from the increasing lion deaths, it was decided to hype up the number from the Poonam Avlokan, which is otherwise just a routine figure,” the official said. Poonam Avlokan (Poonam: Full moon, Avlokan: Count) is done every month by the forest department in the GLL since 2014. The forest department officials, during their monthly patrolling of their beats, rounds and divisions, count the number of lions in their jurisdiction. Quote:“For many years now, the Gujarat government has been giving excuses for not enabling the translocation of lions to the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. CDV has been established in the population and we are sitting on a ticking time-bomb,” Chellam said. “Why is the Supreme Court order of 2013 not being implemented? Why are we endangering the world’s only population of wild Asiatic lions?” he asked. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/wild...lags-71721  (06-10-2020, 11:04 PM)Ingonyama6 Wrote: Here are some accounts of Asian lions interacting and preying on pachyderms. More details about the Middle Eastern lion here: https://wildfact.com/forum/topic-asiatic...#pid119310  (06-14-2020, 11:04 AM)BorneanTiger Wrote:(06-10-2020, 11:04 PM)Ingonyama6 Wrote: Here are some accounts of Asian lions interacting and preying on pachyderms. Just report such posts, they'll be moved.    *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Hardik Zala |
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