World Lion Day 2023: India Is The Only Abode Of Asiatic Lions; What The Future Holds For Them?
Every year, August 10 is marked as World Lion Day to raise awareness about the big cats and to support their conservation.
Once found in large numbers across Asia and Africa, the lion population in the wild has been decimated to the point of near extinction due to hunting and habitat loss.
Species of lions?
There are a two species of lions in the world?Panthera leo leo which is found in West and Central Africa?and?India and Panthera leo melanochaita found in Eastern and Southern?Africa.
AFP/ FILE
Gir, the only home of Asiatic lions
Out of this, the Asiatic lions are among the rarest and are found only in and around Gir National Park in Gujarat.
According to the latest available official figures, there are at least 674 lions, including around 250 females in Gir.
While it was an increase of 29% from the 2015 figure of 523, the picture is not so rosy.
In March this year, the Gujarat government had told the assembly that the Gir sanctuary and adjoining areas lost 240 lions, including 128 cubs, to natural and unnatural causes over the two years ending on December 31, 2022.
Why Asiatic lions need a second home
With the lion population growing and Gir becoming 'overcrowded', conservationists have been calling for the setting up a second home for the Asiatic lions.
They have argued that a second home away from Gir will help ensure the species' survival even if there is an outbreak similar to the canine distemper virus (CDV) outbreak in 1994 that nearly wiped out the Serengeti lion population.
Since 2018, CDV has killed many lions in Gir, making the need for a second home for lions more important than ever.
Kuno, the second home lions never got
The Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, which is now home to the African Cheetahs, as part of the ambitious Cheetah reintroduction programme, was originally chosen as the second home for Asiatic lions.?
But it has made little to no progress so far, primarily due to the reluctance of Gujarat, even after a 2013 Supreme Court order.
Back in 1993, three alternative sites for reintroduction of Asiatic lions were suggested by the experts:?
1. Darrah-Jawaharsagar Wildlife Sanctuary (Rajasthan)
2. Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary (Rajasthan)
3. Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh)
Out of this, Kuno was found to be the most suitable site for the reintroduction of a free-ranging population of Asiatic lions.
A draft report prepared by eminent Scientists like Ravi Chellam, Justus Joshwa, Christy A Williams and AJT Johnsingh on behalf of WII revealed that Kuno was a historical distribution range of Asiatic lions and also highlighted the necessity of a long-term commitment of resources, personnel, the necessity of a comprehensive rehabilitation package, adequate staff and facilities.
What is delaying the translocation?of lions?
But nearly twenty years later and ten years after the SC's six months ultimatum, the lions are yet to reach Kuno.
According to wildlife biologist Ravi Chellam, one of the authors of the 1993 report, "After exhausting its legal options, Gujarat has continued to insist on the completion of about 30 studies as suggested in the reintroduction guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), before translocating the lions. While the IUCN does recommend the studies in a general sense, they are not mandatory preconditions for?translocation."
With Kuno now becoming the home for Cheetahs, it is highly unlikely that the lions will ever find a new home there.
If not Kuno, where?
Earlier this year, the Gujarat government had identified the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, some 100 kilometres away from Gir, as a potential second home for the lions and proposed to translocate 40 adults and sub-adults there.
In January this year, it was reported that a male lion was spotted in Barda, the first such sighting in over 140 years.?
Growing lion population and human-animal conflict
Even as the search for a second home continues, the rise in the lion population is upsetting the delicate balance of the human-animal relationship in Gir.
Lions have always coexisted with humans in and around Gir, and people have tolerated the attacks on their cattle by the big cats.
"About 50% of the current lion population is outside the protected area and living in human-dominated habitats. There have been some attacks on people, but given the frequency of interactions, the number of attacks is actually quite low. But this could change quite dramatically and quickly," Ravi Chellam, a Wildlife Biologist and Conservation Scientist, CEO, Metastring Foundation & Coordinator, Biodiversity Collaborative said.
But in recent years, the presence of lions outside Gir and attacks on domestic animals has increased, which could lead to an increase in human-animal conflicts.?
"If the frequency of attacks on people increases, it is very likely to change the nature of the relationship between lions and the local communities, many of whom are living pretty far from Gir Forest and on revenue land,"?Chellam?said.
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