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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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Darshan Pithadia
Devraj with his mates.  *This image is copyright of its original author
 
Lion presence detected near Rajkot city
 *This image is copyright of its original author Pugmarks of two lions were found on Monday near Tramba village, some 20 kilometre away from Rajkot & they were spotted on Sunday in nearby Gondal area between Bhadla and Bhandariya villages, roughly 30 km from Rajkot. The pair preyed on a pig near Aji Dam on Monday night.Lions had been spotted as late as November last year in forests in Chotila in Surendranagar district as well as Vinchhiya in Rajkot district, these being among the first sightings of the big cats in the region in a long time. A lioness & a cub were spotted in Dedhuki village near the temple town of Chotila in Surendranagar, along with another reported pair of males. It is uncertain whether these new lions are either of those & now wandering the area for suitable habitat patch, or trying to find their way back. But it is confirmed that these big cats — whose population is burgeoning in Gir — had extended their footprints, of not habitat range, to a 6th district of the state! Rajkot is over 170 kilometre from Gir Forest.  *This image is copyright of its original author Their number is expected to have grown phenomenally with internal assessments of the forest department hinting population may have crossed the 1,000-mark! The next official count is scheduled in May of this year & Gujarat government has in-principle agreed to adopt the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) technology for counting lions. Upto 10,000 cameras will be used to carry out the 2020 lion census in Gujarat. Against 15,000 sq km area surveyed in 2015 census, lions will be counted in more than 25,000 sq km area spread across seven districts. "The pugmarks of two lions were found on Monday near Tramba village, some 20 kilometre from Rajkot city. Villagers claim to have spotted them in Gondal, some 40 kilometre from Rajkot, on Sunday. Lions are known to cover 20-25 kilometre overnight," said Rajkot DFO P.T.Shiyani. Forest department teams have spread out on the route but have not spotted the two lions so far. The two lions may have come from & moved back towards Jasdan, some 50 kilometre east of Rajkot. "At times, they make brief visits to far-off areas before moving back towards their habitat," Shiyani added. Sources: * https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/india/stor...2020-01-21 * https://m.timesofindia.com/city/rajkot/t...500676.cms * https://m.timesofindia.com/city/ahmedaba...452456.cms 
for a while i've been thinking their population has to be in the thousands by now
It’s definitely more than the current estimate of 600-odd. But, I doubt it’s in 1000s. The one advantage they have over tigers is less pressure of poaching. I am not really sure how many lions can India actually sustain as they also have to keep space out for ever expanding tiger numbers.
Rishit Sheth
Muscular gir lioness . Like rishi once mentioned they tend to be big and bulky.  *This image is copyright of its original author
(01-22-2020, 07:10 PM)Lycaon Wrote: Rishit Sheth What's astounding is how low their Sexual Dimorphism induced difference in physique is... Most of the male are barely larger than their mates & often you'd find them to be of more or less similar size! I think these females may not be much smaller than African lionesses, but its the average male that brings down the overall size of this subspecies.
Updates on the developments regarding post #1,390.
The lions that had preyed on a pig near Aji Dam on the outskirts of Rajkot on Monday night were sighted at Dhokalva village of in Surendranagar district on Wednesday evening. “One of the lions is radio collared, due to which we are able to follow its movements. A team of 10 forest officials are monitoring the movements of the big cats, lest they cause any harm to any human being,” said J.K.Ambalia, range forest officer, Jasdan of Rajkot district. The two lions seem be returning to Chotila area after travelling upto 20km from Rajkot city. This has left the officials scratching their head as to why the lions that travelled all the way to Gondal and Rajkot were returning back in a 150km long circuit. A senior forest officer however said that lions coming back to Chotila taluka indicates that the two lions may be moving in search of mating partner. Also, it is now clear that they have established their territory in Chotila area, as well as could be moving back & forth between Chotila-Rajkot in search of mate and/or prey. Another possibility is that these lions are part of a larger pride, scouting the area, under pressure from their southern neighbours & may be followed by the females or cubs to settle near Hindolgarh or Rampara Vidi forests.  *This image is copyright of its original author The foresters are confident that those forests will now become new habitat for the big cats. They have all the characteristics of becoming a lion habitat. The region also has a good prey base of chital, neelgai, sambhar and wild boar. Rampara Virdi already home of another predator species the wolves, said foresters. In 2010 Gujarat government had identified an area near Wankaner in Rajkot district for relocation of lions from Gir National Park, as a second location after Barda Dungar in the Porbandar district as part of the lion gene pool project. Sources: https://m.timesofindia.com/city/rajkot/c...531576.cms |
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