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Four Lion Safari Parks built in Gujarat, another 8 proposed
Why do lions die in Barda Safari Park?
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, October 29, 2024
Lion viewing facility is now available at Barda Jungle Lion Safari. Gujarat’s fourth Lion Safari Park has started from October 17, 2024. Barda Jungle Safari starts from Kapurdi Neshana Naka near Bhanvad i.e. from where tourists enter the forest to go to Kileshwar. From Kapurdi there is a 27 km Barda Safari route to Ajmapat and Bhukhbara Nash through Phase I barrier. Started from October 29.
Ecosystem, environment and natural environment in Barda Jungle Safari. Bardo Dungar is spread over two districts Porbandar and Devbhoomi Dwarka.
1 male and 5 females, 2 cubs have been brought from Gir. Earlier there were 6 lions here. The forest department is silent on how many there are now. There have been incidents of lions dying here.
Asiatic lions have become another destination worth seeing. It has the capacity to house 40 lions. One male, 5 sick and 2 lion cubs have been brought to the safari park. The Wildlife Institute of India had earlier identified the Barda Sanctuary as a potential site. Lion Darshan Sasan Pattern takes place in the evening in an area of 5 km.
The natural beauty of Kileshwar, scenic views of the Kilganga river, hilly and mountainous terrain will give a chance to see wildlife up close in their natural habitat. A special type of gypsy facility is a 6-passenger open forest gypsy to go up to the Barda Jungle Safari route. There is a guide.
There are 674 lions in Gujarat. A herd of lions was seen in the Barda Sanctuary in the year 1879. After 143 years, a male Asiatic lion has taken up natural residence in the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary on 19 January 2023, which is a historic event.
There are 368 plant species in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary. There are 59 species of trees, 83 plants, 200 shrubs and 26 creepers. The highest proportion of 54 percent is of mallees. It is followed by 23 percent plants, 16 percent trees and 9 percent creepers. Rayon is the most important species among Barda plants.
Lions have once again knocked in the forest area after about 14 decades.
The sanctuary has 22 mammal species, lion, leopard, wild cat, hartebeest, harrier, jackal, lynx, rabbit, deer, scimitar, chital, nilgai and wild boar.
269 species of birds, including peacock, pheasant, dudhraj, yellow-billed hawk, bulbul, teal, native blue-throated, white-throated warbler.
Rs. 2800 Fees
Permit fee Rs.400, Guide fee Rs.400 and Gypsy fee Rs.2000, Permit ticket is available from the booking counter. Advance booking is mandatory. Online booking facility will also be available.
The Barda area consists of high and low hills spread over 215 sq km. Out of which 192.31 sq km. This area is a wildlife sanctuary.
Can be reached from cities like Porbandar, Jamjodhpur, Upleta, Jamnagar and Junagadh. Also this sanctuary is 170 km from Rajkot. And Ahmedabad is 430 km.
You can get down at Bhanvad and Porbandar railway stations from the sanctuary. It is 40 km from Porbandar, 7 km from Bhanvad and 82 km from Jamnagar. Rajkot airport is 190 km away.
You can visit from 6 am to 4 pm. Barda Jungle Safari remains closed from June 16 to October 15 every year.
World famous places like Navlakha Temple, Modpar Fort, Jambuvan Cave, Sudama, Kirti, the famous Nageshwar and Dwarkadhish Temple are nearby. For more information, Porbandar Forest Department office can be contacted at 0286-2242551.
99 crore project
The Wildlife Institute of India had put up a project with a grant of Rs 99 crore, which included a new home for the lions at Barda Dungar, monitoring of the entire project under NTCA, radio collars for the lions, shifting of stock from Barda Dungar etc. Apart from this, vaccination of stray dogs and cattle, testing for CDV and other diseases and collecting samples from other wild animals were to be done.
Death of lions
The construction of a new home was necessary after the death of about 45 lions from Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in Gir. To save the lion species, two lions Beldi were brought from Junagadh Gir forest to Porbandar’s Barda Dungar forest. Lion Genepool Project was created at Satvirda Nash in Barda Sanctuary. Narasimha named A-One and lioness named Sarita were successfully mated. On 1 April 2019, Sarita gave birth to 2 cubs. Both the cubs and Sarita were healthy. At Satvirda, there were a total of six lions, two males A-One and Nagaraja, two females Sarita and Parvati and two newborn cubs.
A lioness named Sarita gave birth to two cubs on 1 April, both of which died on 3 April 2019 due to the mother. Lionesses keep newborn lion cubs in their mouths and it has been observed that these cubs get injured due to applying excessive pressure in this way. Serious injuries were found after the post-mortem of these two cubs at Sakkarbaag. One cub had chest injury and the other cub had head and brain injury. This type of incident sometimes occurs in cats while taking care of kittens for the first time. The cubs were fed milk from outside by the local staff of the forest department.
Deadly bark
The geographical location of the Barda forest is not such that lions can survive there for long. Also, due to the rocky terrain, lions are unable to walk on their feet in such an area.
Due to the barking, it becomes difficult for the lions to live in this area.
Lion Unit
The Wildlife Institute of India was asked to house 40 lions in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary near Porbandar under Project Lion.
Lion Animal House Unit-1 and Unit-2 were constructed. Animal houses, crawls, service sheds and loafing grounds and lion utility areas have been built in each unit. All the lion friendly aspects of the enclosure have been examined by experts and the area has been found suitable for lions and hence its housing has been successful.
A new safari to be built
The central government has approved the construction of two new lion safari parks in Junagadh and Kutch in 2024. Narayan Sarovar in Kutch and Lion Safari near Una in Gir Somnath district have been approved by the Central Zoo Authority. The total cost behind both the safari parks may be Rs. 100 crore.
There are lion safaris in Sasan, Devaliya, Barda and Ambardi Gir near Dhar. The government is planning to build 12 safari parks in the state in the near future. After the Central Government and Central Zoo Authority approved new safari parks in Kutch, Amreli and Narmada-Kevadia districts, new safari parks can be built near Ambaji, Vasanda, Gandhinagar, Jetpur in the near future.
Kutch
According to Principal Chief Conservator Nityanand Srivastava and Chief Forest Conservator of Kutch Sandeep Kumar, Lion Safari Park will be built in 300 hectares of land near Narayan Sarovar. A project for tourism and lion breeding center.
Una
Una near Diu is an area adjacent to Gir forest. Lion safari will be held here. Nalia-Mandvi of Una taluka is 8 km from Diu. Which has already been announced 9 months ago.
Supreme Court approval will be sought
Both safari parks will be built on 400-400 hectares of land of the Forest Department. The proposal will be placed in the Supreme Court. Court permission is mandatory to set up a zoo or safari park on forest land.
3 Safari Parks
At present there are two safari parks in Junagadh and Amreli Gir. Sakkarbaug Zoo Breeding, Devaliya Safari Park, Ambardi Safari Park. There is a breeding center near Rajkot. A 28 hectare safari park is being built near Randarda Nursery in Rajkot.
Safari Park
Devaliya Safari Park is located in Junagadh. Gujarat’s second safari park is spread over 4000 hectares in Ambardi of Gir, 7 km from Dhari in Amreli.
28 hectares of land near Lalpari-Randara Lake Zoo in Rajkot Rs. Zoo Authority has earlier given permission to Rajkot Municipality to build a lion safari at a cost of 30 crores. Fencing wall work has been done. The tender process is currently underway.
There is a lion breeding center in Junagadh, Saurashtra. There is a lion breeding center in Rajkot. More than 50 lions have been born here. There are 12 lions in the zoo.
Lok Vachan
On October 6, 2018, the government had announced to build a Lion Safari Park in Ahmedabad but nothing was done. State Forest Minister Raman Patkar announced the rehabilitation of lions in Ahmedabad during the Wildlife Conservation Week program in Vapi. Lions are being used to attract people.
After 5 years, in 2023, it was again announced in Ahmedabad that Gujarat’s largest jungle safari and biodiversity park would be built on 500 acres near Gyaspur village by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation at a cost of Rs 250 crore. Tenders were issued for the appointment of intensive forestry and design and project consultants.
The Lion and Tiger Safari Park was to be built in an area of 100 hectares, 6 km away towards the main canal at Kevadia near the Narmada Dam. ZSL was to prepare exhibits similar to those found in the London Zoo. Animals have been brought to the Kevadia Jungle Safari.
In 2018, Forest Minister Ganpat Vasava announced the construction of a lion park in 400 hectares of forest department land, 24 km away from GIFT City in Gandhinagar. It was to be launched in 2022. Nothing happened.
Population
The lion population has increased by 30 percent in 6 years.
In 2015, there were 511 lions. In 2020, there were 674 lions in the Poonam Observation Census. In 2022, there were 736 lions. The lion population is expected to reach 850 by 2024.
Migration
The lions are moving out of the 1,412 sq km Gir forest. It reaches Porbandar, Rajkot, Gondal, Chotila. Therefore, Asiatic lions are settling in other areas outside the Gir forest of Saurashtra. Lions have come to 7 districts. There are an estimated 400 lions outside the Gir sanctuary. They come out as soon as trees grow in Gir. Therefore, the process is underway to declare a part of the banks of the Shetrunji river near Bhavnagar as a sanctuary.
Deaths
123 lions died in 2020-21, 113 in 2020-22 and 89 in 2023-22.
Virus
23 lions died due to canine distemper virus in Dalkhania range east of Gir. The forest minister did not resign then. Lions are in danger. (Google translation from Gujarati)
