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Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
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Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
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Got some good news fraaansss
 Madhya Pradesh Government Seeks Centre's Help To Get Lions From Gujarat Updated: January 27, 2019 14:41 IST Madhya Pradesh government said the state forest department and Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) feel that the process of shifting of the lions can be started immediately.  *This image is copyright of its original author Gujarat has been opposing Madhya Pradesh's request of seeking lions from it. (Representational) New Delhi: The Madhya Pradesh government has sought the "Centre's help" in getting Asiatic lions from Gujarat's Gir which has been delayed by over five years despite a Supreme Court order, according to official documents. Quote:In a letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, it said the state forest department and Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) feel that the process of shifting of the lions can be started immediately. ( Hence, it is requested to issue necessary direction for the shifting of lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, the letter said. A copy of the letter was received in response to an RTI query filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey. The Gujarat government, however, has "maintained"  that it would wait completion of studies as per the relocation guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) before releasing the lions, according to the communique.Quote:The Supreme Court had in April 2013 directed shifting of some lions from Gir to Madhya Pradesh by October of that year, saying the species "should have a second home to "save" it from extinction, due to catastrophes like epidemic, large forest fire etc". Gujarat has been opposing Madhya Pradesh's request of seeking lions from it.  The Madhya Pradesh government had chosen Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Sheopur district of Gwalior division as a second home for over 500 Asiatic lions. But not a single lion has been shifted so far. According to other documents accessed by Dubey through RTI, about Rs. 14.84 crore has been spent by the Madhya Pradesh government in translocation of 1,543 families from 24 villages of the area to pave way for lions entry into the Park. Quote:"The central government must issue a direction to ensure lions from Gir are shifted to MP at the earliest," Dubey said. The matter of shifting of lions had cropped up in a meeting, which was attended by representatives of Gujarat and MP governments besides a renowned wildlife scientist, in September last year. In the meeting, the scientist had said Palpur-Kuno is ready to accommodate 40 lions from Gujarat, according to minutes of the meeting. https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/madhya-p...L4UipiUzew
The Indian Lion needs greater inter-state cooperation
Idioms like 'Mera Bharat Mahan' (India is great) and 'Anekta Mein Ekta' (unity in diversity) don’t mean much if states do not unite for the greater, national good. So much of inter-state conflict today is based on fights over natural resources, notably drinking and irrigation water. But there is also another aspect to this – the refusal of states to cooperate with each other for species conservation is a sorry failure. In 2018, a horrible epidemic broke out amongst the last wild population of Asiatic lions in Gir, Gujarat. In 2013, the Supreme Court had ruled that lions belong to India, not just to Gujarat, and some lions should be given to Madhya Pradesh to create a second habitat. The fear was that if this was not done, the lone lion population would be vulnerable to epidemic, natural calamities like forest fires, and so on – yet, Gujarat has not given any lions. Officially, the state has said that the lions are Gujarat’s “pride” and money for the state does not wish to share them with MP, naming potential poaching or the central Indian heat as a deterrent. This so-called concern though is spurious – lions have historically existed in hot states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.Quote:The reality, insiders say, is that Gujarat doesn’t want to share its tourist revenue with MP.In truth, tourism is most often created by facilities and not just by the view or the animal on display. In these counts, well-organised Gujarat has nothing to fear – and it would be a medal for Gujarati pride to do the right thing for Asiatic lions. https://www.dailyo.in/variety/india-ecol...29121.html Quote:In fact, the Madhya Pradesh government has made Palpur-Kuno of Sheopur district in Gwalior division for more than 500 Asian lions. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has spent Rs 14.84 crores for transferring 1543 families of 24 villages here.https://www.jagran.com/politics/national...93908.html
Ministry of Forests seeks intelligence report on Kuno
 *This image is copyright of its original author jay singh gurjar | Published: Jan, 30 2019 09:02:56 PM (IST) Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh Kuno National Park can receive Lions this year, a big step forward Sheopur: The roar of Asiatic Lions can soon be heard in the Kuno NP. This is because the Ministry of Forests and Environment has requested a report from the Intelligence Agencies regarding the Kuno National Park, after which the survey has been conducted by the agencies. It is believed that this is one big step towards Asiatic lions' shifting direction. It is noteworthy that the process of shifting lions from the Gir Sanctuary in Kuno has been going on for two decades, but till now the lions have not relocated. Under this, after recommendation of the Expert Committee constituted on the directive of the Supreme Court, in December last year, Kuno got National Park status, while on the same day, the Central Forest and Environment Ministry has sought information from the Intelligence Agencies about the forests of Kuno. It has been reported that in this report the Ministry of Forests has sought information including the security situation around Kuno forest, encroachment in the forest, location etc.., It has been reported that intimation agencies will send their reports soon. 6 to 8 lions coming in the first phase 6 to 8 lions have to be brought in the first phase to Kuno National Park, which forms the second house of Asian lions. For which all the preparations have been made at all levels. The area of the Kuno which has been increased, was given the National Park status declared under official notification. It is being told that there will be a meeting of the action plan committee soon, in which the next strategy will be decided on the shifting. https://www.patrika.com/sheopur-news/min...o-4058099/ 
I really wish the Gujarat government didn't hog the Lions. That's not good for their genetic diversity, you can't confine wild animals to just one place.
 (02-02-2019, 06:21 PM)Sanju Wrote: Ministry of Forests seeks intelligence report on Kuno they better get some good specimens too..not from the descendants of those highly inbred pets that were released
Lion vs Tiger; An Indian dilemma
2019-02-05 00:20:29  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author It is a fact that as in Sri Lanka the symbol of the lion has been playing an important role in India as well. The sculpture of four Asiatic lions standing back to back or the Lion Capital of Ashoka was declared the official emblem of independent India. The carving had been originally placed on an Ashokan pillar around 250 BC in the Northern Buddhist city of Sarnath and therefore the national emblem is today known as Lion Capital of Ashoka of Sarnath. Interestingly it was the lion, and not the tiger as it is in today, that was originally made the national Animal of India after independence. However, under Indira Gandhi in 1972, the lion lost its place to Bengal Tiger. The key reason behind the decision was the global attention on the dwindling tiger population of India, which even today is the home to 70 per cent of the world wild tiger population. By 1972 the tiger population which stood at around 40, 000 at the turn of the 20th century had dropped to a mere 1,827. The year after adopting Tiger as the national animal Gandhi launched ‘Project Tiger’, an ambitious conservation plan to protect this engendered beautiful cat. Thanks to that project today India is home to about 4,000 tigers spread over sixteen states. Bengali Tiger is also the national animal of Bangladesh where around 400 Bengali tigers have survived. Conservationists believe that there are around a hundred Bengali Tigers each in Bhutan and Nepal as well. All was well until 2015 In 2015 a proposal was made in Rajya Sabha to revert to the lion as the national animal in view of drawing attention to the extreme challenges faced by country’s lion population. Gir National Park in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State Gujarat is the only home for the heavily endangered Asian Lions. The park has about 600 lions today. Quote:Though the lion population is more endangered than Tigers, the conservationists, however, launched a strong attack against the move on the premise that it would only scuttle the ongoing projects to protect Bengali tigers. They charged that the proposal to replace tiger with lion had been made by those who were eyeing tiger sanctuary lands for industrial purposes. The debate snowballed into a political dispute with pro-Tiger lobbyists arguing that while Tigers deserve the national animal slot with its population spread over sixteen 16 States (NOW MAY BE IN GUJARAT STATE TOO!), lions can only be found in PM Modi’s Gujarat. The lions in Gir National Park are today faced with numerous challenges and key among them is the drastic drop in the level of "immunity" due to inbreeding making them susceptible to epidemic. This has been attributed to inbreeding with almost all 600 lions living in an area of 258 square km  . Moves by conservationists to shift some of the Gir Lions to Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere to address the plaguing issues had been met with stiff resistance from consecutive Gujarat State Governments despite even Supreme Court orders. Gujarat leaders have been maintaining that Gir lion had been the pride of Gujarat and don't want to share revenue even with their own nation and they would not let anyone take away the pride and money. The move to replace the tiger with the lion as national animal meanwhile has died a natural death in the din of the protests by Tiger lovers.  http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Lion-v...61955.html
Kuno to be second home for Gir lions
Saturday, 09 February 2019 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi Quote:A Government report released on Friday has among various conservation measures called for creation of a second home for the wild big cats other than the Gir forests in Gujarat’s Saurashtra region. The Gujarat Government has been vehemently opposing for long parting its ‘Gir’s Pride’ with any other State —to be precise in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno wildlife sanctuary—for shifting the big cats and a case in this regard is also pending in the Supreme Court. The Vijay Rupani-led Gujarat Government has also rejected Wildlife Institute of India’s ‘Recovery and Conservation of Endangered Lions in Gujarat’ project, which was to be monitored by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). Asiatic Lions are listed in the Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, thereby according them the highest degree of protection. The report, ‘Asiatic Lion Conservation Project’, which was released by Union Environment Minister Dr Harshvardhan on Friday also noted that the current rate of development-induced habitat fragmentation, loss of potential lion habitats owing to natural calamities triggered by climate change besides poaching and poisoning of prey carcasses plague the India’s majestic Asiatic lions conservation, which are presently confined in Saurashtra region of Gujarat. While noting that the 2010 census which pegged the population at 411 showed a remarkable increase of 112 animals in the next five years and the lion population in the year 2015 stands 523 from four districts of Saurashtra, the report felt it was not enough. “In spite of successful conservation efforts over last 4 decades, registering sustained increasing population trend, the Asiatic Lion is still critically endangered on account of its total population being only about 523+10, i.e. much less than desirable 500 breeding adults with demographically favorable male to female ratio.” Quote:The report also enlisted various threats that exist in the region for the survival of the Asiatic lions. “With the current rate of development-induced habitat fragmentations in Saurashtra, only home to the country’s lions, there is an increasing risk for lion ‘patchy populations’ to gradually deteriorating into a meta population where “several patches might become spatially separated disjoint lion sub-populations”. “Lion mortality due to anthropogenic pressures such as poaching, poisoning of prey carcasses etc and loss of potential lion habitats owing to natural calamities triggered by climate changes are likely to further exacerbate this situation,” it further said. Despite a successful recovery, Asiatic lions exemplify all the typical impediments of carnivore conservation -such as a small population restricted to a single site and with reduced genetic diversity, long ranging and conflict with human interests… make Asiatic lions vulnerable to stochastic events such as epidemics and newly emerging diseases, the report added. Further, co-evolved diseases, both endemic and epidemic, are known to have an effect on the hosts (lion) ecology. Thus, monitoring of diseases and disease-causing agents in this endangered population has huge ecological and conservation implications. Recently over 23 predators had succumbed to Cannine distemper virus (CDV) in the region which had also evoked strong response from the Supreme Court and Gujarat High Court. The ‘Asiatic Lion Conservation Project’, initially for a three year period with budget fund of Rs 97.84 crore (with the contributing ratio being 60:40 of Central and State share respectively) aims consolidating conservation of the Asiatic Lion and its associate biota in Saurashtra region. The Project envisages a science-based management prescriptions with involvement of people alongside coordination with multi-sectoral agencies within the Gir Protected Area system. The project activities are aimed at better management of the Lion habitat, disease control and veterinary care for overall conservation of the Asiatic Lion. Currently, lions exist in Gir National Park and Sanctuary and its surroundings viz. Girnar Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, Pania Sanctuary, South Eastern and Western coastal areas, Savarkundla, Liliya and adjoining areas of Amreli and Bhavnagar Districts. https://www.dailypioneer.com/2019/india/...lions.html 
Will this actually happen? That would be so awsome! The tourism would be insane combining, Kuno and Ranthambore. See three of four biggest cats on earth.
Only fear is that the cats will clash.. can the lions reach Ranthambore? And if they did would they be removed or would they let nature take care of it’s self? (02-09-2019, 10:38 PM)Pantherinae Wrote: Will this actually happen? That would be so awsome! The tourism would be insane combining, Kuno and Ranthambore. See three of four biggest cats on earth. As long as there's enough prey and habitats for Lions and tigers, they should avoid each other. That's how it was for millions of years. Lions ruled the plains while tigers ruled the jungles. That's likely we have barely any accounts of the two fighting in the wild. (02-10-2019, 01:35 AM)smedz Wrote:(02-09-2019, 10:38 PM)Pantherinae Wrote: Will this actually happen? That would be so awsome! The tourism would be insane combining, Kuno and Ranthambore. See three of four biggest cats on earth. Limited space is different though. Just look at Cheetahs and lions now. The cheetahs are being pushed hard by lions as the plains shrink and they get more pushed together. imo tigers and lions are going to fight and go after eachothers cubs intensely. I hope I’m wrong, but it looks like this could be a real cat war. I don’t know enough about the size of Kuno however.. their tiger numbers, size of reserve and terrain. (02-10-2019, 02:44 AM)Pantherinae Wrote:(02-10-2019, 01:35 AM)smedz Wrote:(02-09-2019, 10:38 PM)Pantherinae Wrote: Will this actually happen? That would be so awsome! The tourism would be insane combining, Kuno and Ranthambore. See three of four biggest cats on earth. True, I do also hope you're wrong, and since both have the same niche, one would likely outcompete the other. (02-09-2019, 10:38 PM)Pantherinae Wrote: Only fear is that the cats will clashWhat??? Quote:@Pantherinae I think you are very interested in Lion-Tiger fight. I see... Don't try to apply the same ideology of captive fights in wild. Also Big cats are not poriferans, they are vertebrates and mammals in specific with typical mammalian nervous system. I said this coz I think you are seeing all animals except Humans like poriferans which don't have nervous system at all. We can discuss here--> Tiger-Lion Coexistence in Eurasia during late Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs Read the thread from the first though. :) |
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