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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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Gujarat: Study of Asiatic lions by WII stalled as state withdraws permit
The withdrawal of permission may well mark an end to the long-running study of Asiatic lions and greater Gir area by scientists of WII in its present form. The series of study had begun in early 1990. X
The chief wildlife warden of Gujarat is the nodal officer for granting permission for conducting research on wild animals in the state.THE RESEARCH on Asiatic lion corridors in greater Gir area by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has stalled after the Gujarat government reportedly withdrew permission for it recently. The news comes on the heels of WII getting a cold shoulder in the 15th lion census which was due this June but was eventually postponed indefinitely. Sources said that the office of the principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden of Gujarat sent a one-line communication to WII recently, stating permission was being withdrawn for the latter’s research project on metapopulation dynamics, behaviour and ecological role of Asiatic lions in Greater Gir area. “It was a one-line communique sent via-email conveying permission was being withdrawn. No reason was specified,” said a WII functionary, adding a copy of the communication was marked to the director of WII. The chief wildlife warden of Gujarat is the nodal officer for granting permission for conducting research on wild animals in the state. The withdrawal of permission may well mark an end to the long-running study of Asiatic lions and greater Gir area by scientists of WII in its present form. The series of study had begun in early 1990. WII was the first research institute to radio-caller Asiatic lions outside Gir protected area and beginning from 2008. In all, the research team led by Yadvendradev Jhala, present dean of Faculty of Science of WII, and Kaushik Banerjee, research scientist with WII, had radio-collared 20 lions between 2005 and 2014. “Presently, we were studying lion corridors in greater Gir area and human-lion and human-leopard conflict. Just last year, we had got extension of permission for this study,” Banejee told The Indian Express on Thursday. Repeated phone calls and text messages by The Indian Express to Gujarat Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava and Rajiv Gupta, additional chief secretary (forest and environment department) of Gujarat government didn’t elicit any response. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/...t-6487695/   *This image is copyright of its original author sohil_makvana13-His MajestyAsiatic lion (panthers Leo persica) Sasan-Gir  
Really love this photo of a male surveying the territory.
@suresh_darbar_8  *This image is copyright of its original author
 (07-03-2020, 06:40 PM)Sanju Wrote: Gujarat: Study of Asiatic lions by WII stalled as state withdraws permit These are really bad news. Allways that the Goverment do these things, these bans, something fishy is happening. Is there a future Panna/Sariska issue with Gir this time? 
(07-07-2020, 08:42 AM)GuateGojira Wrote: These are really bad news. Allways that the Goverment do these things, these bans, something fishy is happening. Is there a future Panna/Sariska issue with Gir this time? I suppose their findings about lions living in outer fringes of Gir becoming too dependent on baits placed by illegal lion shows & never honing their predatory instincts or completely becoming scavengers of dead cattle carcasses, is making Gujarat government uncomfortable... that has been a long standing controversy. See the posts few pages ahead for details.
Gujarat: 97% rise in ‘migrant’ lions in 5 years
The Asiatic lions have recorded a roaring growth of 97% outside designated lion sanctuaries of Gir, Girnar, Mitiyala and Paniya. In absolute numbers, lions outside the protected areas have risen from 167 in the 2015 Census to 329 in the enumeration exercise completed in May 2020. Ironically, the lion population has declined by 3.1% inside the protected areas, dwindling from 356 to 345. While migration of lions outside the protected areas is common knowledge with lions routinely being sighted in revenue areas including villages and even roads of Junagadh city, the robust expansion of lion population outside the protected areas has got even the foresters surprised. Maximum growth of 272% in lion population has been recorded in the coastal belt of Rajula, Jafrabad and Nageshree. Satellite population of 17 lions has been recorded for the first time on Bhavnagar coast. ‘National park of 1,000sq km needed’ Experts say that lion population explosion in revenue areas can be majorly attributed to the easy availability of cattle prey which is a staple diet of lions. Weak and diseased cattle offered as bait to lions is also noted in a research paper by a national wildlife agency. Congestion is also cited as a big reason behind lions moving out of protected areas. YV Jhala, a lion expert with Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said that sanctuary area for lions is too overcrowded and very less space is available sans any human presence. “Asiatic lions have a national park without any human presence spread over only 250 sq km as compared to 50 tiger sanctuaries which are spread anywhere between 700 sq km and 1,000 sq km in area. The government needs to declare at least 1,000-sq km area as a national park for lions to thrive in Gujarat,” Jhala said. Former Gujarat forest officer and lion expert H S Singh said that the population within the sanctuary has been saturated for the past 15 years now. “There is no scope of population growth within the sanctuary. Growth has been witnessed outside the sanctuary only.” It needs mention that the total lion population has been recorded at 674 lions, up from 523 lions in 2015, during the Poonam Avalokan exercise conducted in JUne this year after the Lion Census 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to watch the video https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.timesofindia.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-97-rise-in-migrant-lions-in-five-years/amp_articleshow/76864994.cms |
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