Ashraf Engineer
April 26, 2025
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Hello and welcome to All Indians Matter. I am Ashraf Engineer.
A few weeks ago, Gujarat’s Forest Minister Mulubhai Bera informed the Legislative Assembly that at least 286 lions, including 143 cubs, had died in the state over the past two years, and 58 of these deaths were due to unnatural causes. To a question by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, Bera said 456 leopards, including 140 cubs, also died in two years – 2023 and 2024.
Gujarat has the largest number of Asiatic lions in the world – 674, according to the last census in June 2020, most of them in the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.
Among the unnatural causes were getting run over by vehicles or drowning in open wells.
Among leopards, 303 deaths were due to natural causes and 153 were attributed to unnatural reasons.
All of this would indicate various pressures on Gir. Not all of it is human-animal conflict but the causes of the deaths justify a deeper investigation and corrective measures.
SIGNATURE TUNE
The Gujarat government says it has already taken steps to prevent unnatural deaths of big cats. These include the appointment of veterinarians and an ambulance service for timely intervention and treatment. Other measures include speedbreakers and signboards on roads passing through the sanctuary, foot patrols, parapet walls around open wells, fences alongside railway tracks near Gir and radio-collaring lions to track their movements.
As far as human-animal conflicts go, it has been reported that illegal tourist hot spots have mushroomed on private land in and around Gir. Often, lions are baited so that tourists can see them up close. This is one of the key reasons for the nearly 25 lion attacks in Gujarat every year, conservationists have warned.
As their numbers grow, the lions don’t always stay within park limits. They often leave protected areas in search of prey. Conservationists say that the highest number of conflicts occur near the illegal tourist areas and lion refuge patches, where the animals rest during the day.
Gir and surrounding areas have had tourists for decades. Baiting for the tourists to get a better view can cause lions to lose their fear of humans and also hamper the learning of hunting techniques among juveniles. It also artificially inflates lion densities, leading to even more conflict. Baiting makes the lions aggressive towards humans when they don’t get food because now they depend on the humans.
As lion numbers rise, cattle killings have risen 15% per year, and the number of villages affected has risen 10%. The May 2025 census announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to witness a rise in the lion count to around 800. In 2020, it was at 674 – a 29% increase over 2015.
While the number of attacks on humans has remained steady over the past few years, it has increased compared to three decades ago. A 1994 study reported around 15 lion attacks on humans every year between 1978 and 1991. The difference between then and now is that earlier the Forest Department used to bait inside protected areas. Now, it’s also those who run the illegal tourist spots who do so to make a quick buck. In villages with such tourist hot spots, it is suspected that most compensation claims for livestock are for animals used as bait. In 2019-20, lions killed 2,605 cattle; 3,244 in 2020-21 and 4,385 in 2023-24.
Conservationists have said that there is a need to bring villages where such spots exist into the fold of government-regulated lion tourism. Legitimising these tourist spots under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) and putting them under government control would stop wrongful practices and give locals a share of the revenue.
However, it’s anything but easy because of the region’s demography. Communities like the Maldhari have lived with lions for more than 150 years and within protected areas for decades. Lions kill feral cattle and agricultural pests like wild pigs and nilgai, which farmers appreciate. Education levels also play a key role in determining attitudes towards the lions.
Coming back to lion numbers, many wander out in search of larger territories. A 2022 study published in the journal ‘Nature’ said 48% of the lion population had dispersed outside Gir.
To address this, there was a suggestion to translocate some of them outside Gujarat. However, this is controversial because the big cats have now come to be associated with Gujarati pride.
While a rising lion population is good, finding new territories is a challenge. Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, 100 km from Gir, is now home to 17 lions and has a capacity of 80 to 100, although some experts said it can’t have more than 50. Barda had last recorded lions in 1879 and officials say the lions found their way to Barda on their own, crossing busy highways on the way.
The rising lion population also presents the challenges of prey base, shelter and water. When it comes to prey, government data says that too is on the rise.
There is also the risk of disease. There have been cases of Gir’s lions dying of the highly contagious canine distemper virus. It’s like a time bomb – a single outbreak can be disastrous, as was witnessed in 2018 when the virus killed dozens of lions. Related to this is the issue of inbreeding, which weakens genetic resilience.
There seems to be little choice but to either expand Gir’s boundaries or translocate some of the lions. Many have suggested the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh as the site for translocation. It has a ready ecosystem, several villages have been relocated and the Supreme Court has ruled in its favour. Yet, very little has been done.
The lions urgently need more protected habitats as well as wider disease surveillance. Local communities must be turned into allies. Think of it as an insurance policy – it’s something we must do to protect against unexpected events. Another sanctuary would protect the free-ranging Asiatic Lions, who are so critical to India’s natural heritage.
We must understand that the fate of the Asiatic lion in India rests in human hands. That is why securing its future must become a national mission.
Thank you all for listening. Please visit allindiansmatter.in for more columns and audio podcasts. You can follow me on Twitter at @AshrafEngineer and @AllIndiansCount. Search for the All Indians Matter page on Facebook. On Instagram, the handle is @AllIndiansMatter. Email me at editor@allindiansmatter.in. Catch you again soon.
