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8 September 2024 (Google translation from Gujarati) According to the last count in 2020, the number of lions in the country is 674. This number is 27 percent more than the number of 2015. However, out of 674, 300 lions live outside the forest.
In 2015, lions in Gujarat were spread over an area of about 22 thousand square kilometers. In 2020, this area has increased to 30 thousand square kilometers.
According to the Gujarat State Government’s report on the census of lions, 51.04 percent of lions live inside the forests, while 47.96 percent of lions live outside forest areas.
The report states that outside forest areas, 13.27 percent of lions are found in agricultural land areas, 2 percent in residential areas and 0.68 percent around mining and industrial areas.
In February this year, the central government had told the Lok Sabha that 555 lions had died in the last five years. The then Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Chobe, said that 113 lions had died in 2019. Whereas in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, 124, 105, 110 and 103 lions were killed respectively.
According to the Kathiawar Gazetteer, only 10 to 12 lions were left in the year 1884. An information booklet titled ‘Asiatic Lion: A Success Story’ has been released by the Forest Department of the Government of Gujarat. According to the details given in it, when the first count was done after Gujarat came into existence as a separate state, this number reached 285.
Videos of lions living in the Gir forest often go viral.
According to experts, lions are more likely to leave the forest during monsoon and there are some reasons for this.
The greenery of Gir in monsoon, dense forests etc. play an important role in this.
The lion likes open air and hence it moves to areas away from dense forest in the rainy season.
The BBC spoke to the Gir Forest Department and experts to know why the lions are leaving the Gir forest and going somewhere else.
Aradhana Sahu is the Chief Forest Conservator (Wildlife) of Junagadh.
Due to rain in monsoon, there is a lot of moisture in the forests, waterlogging occurs in some places. Therefore, lions prefer dry areas or hilly areas.
The number of insects or mosquitoes also increases in the forest in the rain. This causes trouble to the animals. Therefore, animals prefer to go where there are less mosquitoes etc.
Lions usually prefer to live in and around the forest or forest-like areas. Sometimes they also like to live in Wadi areas.
Lions are often seen coming out of the forest into nearby villages or on the roads.
It is not only during the monsoon that lions leave the forest like this. Lions have some corridors, Gir-Girnar is an active corridor. Gir-Mityala, Savarkundla etc. are active corridors. Therefore, lions like to go to such places.
Experts also believe that the Gir forest is getting smaller for lions. As the number of lions is increasing with time, the range of movement of lions is getting limited.
Rajan Joshi is a wildlife activist. Due to the increasing number of lions, the Gir forest is shrinking. So lions roam in the forest area outside Gir i.e. Big Gir. The number of animals for hunting is also high in Great Gir. Therefore, there is some convenience in killing the lion. In monsoon, they are especially seen in Greater Gir.
The forest area becomes dense during the monsoon. Due to rain, there is a lot of infestation of flies and mosquitoes, which attack the lions. In the open area on the border outside the forest, the infestation of flies and mosquitoes is less. Therefore, the lions move from the forest to the open areas.
Fed up with the infestation of flies and mosquitoes in the rainy season, the lions sometimes come on the road as well. There are fewer flies and mosquitoes.
Another reason for the lions to go to the open areas is that it is relatively easier to find prey outside Gir in the days after the monsoon.
Due to the monsoon, grass grows in the open areas adjacent to the forest, so the lions also find prey there because the cattle also come there to graze.
The Gir forest is full of bushes and trees. Whereas in the forests of Africa, the grasslands are relatively high. The Gir forest remains dry in summer, which looks like a lion.
The Gir forest remains a little open in summer, so it is relatively easier to identify and catch the prey. Since the forest becomes dense in the monsoon, the lion also faces difficulty in hunting. So they go to the forest.
In Gujarat, lions can be found comfortably with domestic animals in the surrounding forest areas. The lion is basically an animal of grass or open forest. It does not like dense bushes. That is why it is seen in the open outside the forest during rainy season.
What does Bhagavadgomandal say about the lion?
An animal of violence. It is said in the Puranas that this violent race was born from Shardula, daughter of Krathavasha. He is the most powerful, generous and respected of all animals and is called Vanaraja or the king of animals. This animal is found in the hot forests of Iran, India and Africa.
was echoing. In 1822 A.D. they dispersed into the Punjab. They were not unknown in northern Rohilkhand and around Rampur. In 1847 A.D. their population was recorded in the forests of Sagar and Narmada. It is heard of its being hunted only 80 miles above Allahabad.
Even a century ago, lions were seen in good numbers in Central India and Gujarat.
By 1830 A.D. they were gracing the borders of Ahmedabad, Abu and Deesa. The last Savaj in Deesa is a record of Maraya in 1870. In Saurashtra, the hills of Dhrangghara, Jasdan, Chotila and Eastern Gir to Western Girnar including Aalech and Barda were full of their settlements. Now more commonly: They are found in Asia and Africa. In Asia it is found only in Saurashtra and only in Gir. The perimeter of 20, 25 miles around Girnar is called Gir forest. The 500 square mile area of this Gir is their last census. According to that count there are only 212 (currently 523) lions in Saurashtra. Experts are specially hired to count the population of lions and they collect all the facts about the habitat of the lions, hunting places, resting places, watering places, lions, lionesses and their cubs on their footsteps. The coat of the girth lion is generally not similar to the coat of the African lion. Lions of both continents are almost similar in size. Till date the length of the longest lion in Gir is 9 feet 7 inches: while the length of the African lion has reached 10 feet 7 inches. The long bodied one is called Veliya or Velar and the long bodied one is called Gadhiya. Apart from this, Neswala named the animals around him on the basis of their color and sound. Like Ratado, Masio, Khankharo etc. Lion cubs are of spotted and striped color. These spots and stripes show that the color of the ancestors of the animal must have been between the leopard’s slits and the tiger’s stripes. These characteristics fade away with age. Male cubs have long hair on their neck and they also become longer with age.
When a lion turns six years old, it attains full puberty, by which time its mane grows. After twenty-five years it shows signs of aging. Its life span is 30 to 40 years. It is brown in colour. Their appearance is impressive, their gait is slow and limited, their voice is like a fierce roar and their temperament is cruel but serious. It is called Dalmato because of its lap and large head. The long hair on the neck is called mane. It has a long tuft of hair at the end.
This animal, known since ancient times, once lived in Greece, entire Africa and South Asia. But at present in India, apart from East Africa, Mesopotamia and Iran, it is only found in the Gir forests of Saurashtra. Lions are divided into two parts, Asia and Africa. In this, the lion of Sorath is considered to be a special breed of lions of the whole world. When fully grown, the mane of the Asiatic lion is light and black at the ends. Senegalese lions do not have manes. From nose to tip of tail, the lion is more than nine feet long and weighs about 500 rattles. Females are about a foot shorter than males. Both have a tuft of black hair at the end of their tails; this has a hard thorn like a horn.
The lion is called Sher Babur in Hindi, Oont in Gujarat and Savaj in Sorath. It inhabits sandy, flat and rocky open lands with thick and long grass near water. The lion is not as agile as the tiger, though it is very strong and courageous and can easily make a good jump even in narrow places. Also, its habit of attacking with open mouth and always roaming on the highway is very convenient for the hunter. It rests in the shade all day and has a habit of roaring when it rises from the valley in search of prey. Their howling time is mainly dusk and dawn, though they are heard chirping at night.
Their roar is extremely loud and serious like thunder. They do not have any specific breeding season, but in Gir the lionesses mate mostly between October and November, and the lionesses give birth to cubs in January and February. Cubs born in the rainy season often do not survive for long due to bad weather and lack of food. A lioness reaches puberty at the age of two and a half to three years and gives birth to cubs at that time. Its gestation period is four months. The lioness gives birth to two cubs at a time, but sometimes the growth of one is also seen. There should be a gap of at least one or two years between two visits. The baby’s teeth fall in one year and start coming in the next year. The lion also participates substantially in the upbringing of the cubs and takes care of the entire family. A hybrid species called liger has also been produced from the mating of lions and tigers.
It is also called Mrigaindra, Panchasya, Haryaksha, Kesari, Chitrakaya, Mrigadvisa, Hari, Mrigaripu, Mrigadrishti, Mrigashan, Pundarik, Panchanakh, Kanthirva, Mrigapati, Panchanan, Palalbhaksh. Lions were also popular in ancient Greece and Macedonia. They also lived in Iran and Mesopotamia. North and central India were also affected by their sting. (Google translation from Gujarati)
