The just-concluded 13th Asiatic Lion census in Gir Sanctuary has revealed an increase in their numbers. Shubhlakshmi Shukla, the only reporter to tag along with the hundreds of officials and volunteers who conducted the exercise, reports
Globally, a majority of people including Indians are not aware that India has wild lions. The tiger, which replaced the lion as the national animal in the early 1970s, does hog the headlines and therefore has a much stronger link to India and an overwhelming presence in public conscience.
The Gir forest, the last surviving home of Asiatic lions in the subcontinent, has finally brought some cheer to wildlife conservationists. According to the 2010 lion population estimate, there are 411 lions, an increase of 52 over the last count in 2005.
The announcement was made by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar on Sunday.
While the official number of Asiatic lions in the Gir sanctuary will be known on Friday, local people involved in the process of collecting and collating data estimate the figure at around 400.
Census of the Asiatic lions in its last natural habitat was conducted between April 25 and April 27 in two phases. In 2005, the number of lions was recorded at 359 as compared to 327 in 2000.
On the eve of census of the Asiatic lion population in Gir forest beginning later this week, the State wildlife officials are confident that the new, modern methods adopted this time would reduce the margin of counting errors.
Rajkot: A day after a lion was axed to death, a decomposed carcass of an Asiatic lion was found in Junagadh on Tuesday. The postmortem report, however, stated the big cat died of old age a fortnight ago.
GANDHINAGAR: Narendra Modi says Asiatic lions are the pride of Gujarat and he won't part with them. But the animals seem to be endangered in their sole habitat.
The state government has admitted that 72 lions died in the Gir sanctuary in the past two years. Of them, one was killed by poachers and the rest, the government claimed, were from natural causes.
Gandhinagar, March 9: Gujarat government has admitted that as many as 72 lions have died in the Gir forest in Gujarat. Gir is the only abode of lions in the entire Asia.
In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Chandubhai Dabhi, the Gujarat government said that 71 lions have died a natural death while one lion died of poaching in the Gir forest.
Gandhinagar: The state government, for the first time, came out in the open in the state assembly regarding its opposition to shifting of Asiatic lions from Gir to Madhya Pradesh.
The government in reply to the question asked by MLA of Karjan Chandu Dabhi said on Tuesday that for conservation of the lions, the government has identified a land near Wankaner near Rajkot.
