INDIA. Gujarat: A new sanctuary will be established to accommodate a large number of big cats due to the success of lion conservation efforts in the Indian state of Gujarat.
The only group of Asiatic lions in the world can be found in Gir National Park, which is also the only location outside of Africa where one can see lions in their natural environment.
Since there are about 400 endangered animals in Gir and another 300 in other areas of the province, Gir has long been overpopulated. Lions are compelled to stray into coastal communities and villages due to a lack of space.
To give the lions in Gir enough breathing room, conservationists have been appealing to the Gujarat government to relocate some lions to other regions of India.
However, the state government has resisted the request, drawing criticism that it is being overly possessive of the lions and ignoring what is best for them.
In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the government to relocate some lions to a sanctuary in the neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh, but the government fought the order. The decision stated that action was required to stop a disease from possibly eradicating the entire populace.
Gujarat has now announced that some lions will be relocated from Gir, albeit only to the Barda Wildlife Reserve, a different location within the state.
According to officials, the number of herbivores is growing, and some of the densely forested regions that lions dislike will be pruned to make the vegetation more sparse.
Anish Andheria, the head of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, believes that Gujarat is using this as yet another “misleading gimmick” to keep the lions from being shared with other Indian states.
He claimed that some lions from Gujarat, including those from Gir and other locations, had already moved into Barda in quest of space and criticized the government for promoting an already-known fact as a brand-new remedy.
The fact that there are now more lions in India is excellent news, he continued, but the only real solution is for lions to be relocated to other areas of the nation. The only way to get the lions out of Gir and the rest of Gujarat and into the territory they require would be to do this.
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