Lions are expanding their territory
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh wants some Gir lions relocated to the Kuno Palpur sanctuary. The lions are spreading beyond the protected areas to Amreli, Bhavnagar and Junagadh districts. As their numbers grow from the count of 411 done in mid-2011 , the lion kingdom today is nearly 10,500 sq km. The Gir national park and sanctuary is unable to contain the growing population of the lions.
The Asiatic lions of India were hunted down all over the country and they found refuge in a tiny corner of the Saurashtra peninsula which was their home for most of the 20th century.
In 1968 the first census put the population at 177 lions, all of whom were within the protected zone of Gir sanctuary and national park.
Gujarat’s additional principal chief conservator of forests HS Singh, says, “In 1800, lions were found in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi. In 1857, 200-odd lions were hunted in Delhi and nearby areas. The Gir National Park and surrounding area can accommodate only around 300 lions, forcing others to move out.”
Senior research fellow with the Wildlife Institute of India, Kausik Banerjee says, “These areas are not new to the lions. They are only recolonising their past territories.”
(News Editor- Naushin Fatima Khan)
