Lions spotted near Chotila, 100 km from Gir sanctuary

A female and sub-adult spotted in Chotila; officials said the two have moved about 100 km away from their usual location around the Gir Sanctuary

Even as the Gujarat government drags its feet on the issue of translocation of lions despite a Supreme Court order, the big cat is already pushing at the boundaries.

The forest department on Tuesday confirmed spotting of lions near Chotila in Surendranagar-a female and a sub-adult whose gender is yet to be ascertained.

The department officials had been looking for the lions after spotting their pug marks. According to top forest officials, three lions were seen about 10-12 days back near Amreli-Babra. They killed there and then moved further. Senior forest officials believe the same group may have reached Chotila as part of natural exploration of a new corridor. They were spotted in Chotila on Monday night. According to officials, they killed a prey at dawn on Tuesday before moving further. Sources said that the lions have travelled approximately 100 km so far.

Chief Conservator of Forest, Junagadh D T Vasavada said, "We have got updates about lions being spotted near Chotila. However, we are yet to confirm number of animals and get other details as the local forest team from Surendranagar is looking into the matter."

Sources said that the lions have killed near Anandpur, Dedhuki village and Rampar village. Anandpur is about 27 km from Chotila mountain and about 51 km from Rajkot city. According to forest department sources on the field, the lions appear to be quite comfortable. They moved further after preying at dawn on Tuesday. Currently, they are said to be in Rampara. A team of 20-25 officials of the forest department has been monitoring their movement since Monday night and keeping locals away from them, the sources added.

About three years ago, a lion was spotted in Jasdan near Hingolgadh wildlife sanctuary, which is the same terrain where these lions have been spotted.

Top officials close to the development said there were no immediate plans to rescue the animals or take them back to the area they originally belonged to. According to sources, the forest officials will observe movement of the lions for a few days and ensure that no unwanted event of man-animal conflict arises in the area. They have started advising the locals to not panic or harass the lions if they spot them.

Reclaiming lost land

According to historical records, lions were found in grasslands around Chotila. As their population shrank, their habitat got restricted to Sasan. However, as their numbers began to rise, the big cats have started exploring newer areas. They are seen in Junagadh, Amreli, Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar and now in Surendranagar district.

According to the May 2015 Census, there were 523 lions in Gir, of which 168 were outside the sanctuary area. However, sources in department say there are close to 800 lions in the region according to their internal assessment. Department sources also confirmed that the area till Chotila would be included in the upcoming lion census in the summer of 2020.

The MP-Gujarat standoff

Six years ago, the Supreme Court directed the Gujarat government to translocate Asiatic lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The move was to ensure that the lions got a second home. However, till date not a single lion has been sent to the neighbouring state. Earlier this year, the MP government again approached the Centre seeking translocation of the lions to its sanctuary.

Currently, Gujarat is the only habitat of the Asiatic lions. Over the years, their number has gone up, forcing lions to move out of the Gir sanctuary area into human habitat. This has resulted in instances of man-animal conflict. Additionally, following the death of several lions last year due to the Canine Distemper Virus infection, the fear of diseases wiping out the entire population got stronger, leading to more voices demanding shifting some of them to a second habitat to prevent their extinction.