Now, here's one more reason for the last breed of Asiatic lions in Gir to cheer. Acknowledging the need to expand the habitat area of lions
AHMEDABAD: Now, here's one more reason for the last breed of Asiatic lions in Gir to cheer. Acknowledging the need to expand the habitat area of lions, the state government has accepted the Greater Gir proposal.
According to the proposal, the current sanctuary area has to be increased threefold and the entire corridor declared eco-fragile.
Through the Rs40 crore allocated to the Gujarat Lion Conservation Society in the state budget this year, the government has already initiated expansion of the habitat as the population of lions is expanding rapidly. The entire corridor up to Palitana in Bhavnagar and Mahuva in South Savarkundla and Jesar will be declared protected.
This expansion is in addition to the recent addition of a 180 sq km area of Girnar hills to the 1,460 sq km of the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and Puniya and Mitiyala forest areas to the sanctuary in the past.
"The idea of Brihad (Greater) Gir has been accepted by the government. Nearly 200 sq km area will be given protected status sometime in the future and maybe even sanctuary status eventually," said principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Pradeep Khanna. He said efforts were on to identify and acquire land which used to be the traditional corridor of lions as they were straying there in huge numbers anyway.
Most of this land which was once habited by lions is now farmland, cattle grazing land (guachar) or villages. This is making the task of giving the area the requisite protected status rather difficult. "Identifying the ownership of the land is a lengthy process as the area is very large. But since the government has agreed in principle to expand the habitat of lions, it should not be very difficult," Khanna added.
Work is on to create a prey base in these areas. Requisite protection for breeding is also underway. State forest and environment secretary SK Nanda conceded that lions were regularly straying out of the Gir Sanctuary in great numbers and immediate habitat expansion measures were required. "Lions have a tendency to colonise whichever area they visit. So we have no option but declare the area protected to guard lions as well as human habitation in the area," he said.
Former wildlife warden GA Patel had proposed the concept of Greater Gir during his tenure around eight years ago. "It indeed is a relief that the government has finally felt the need for expansion. I had suggested that the government should declare forest areas of Bhavnagar and Porbandar, in addition to Junagadh and Amreli, eco-fragile or sensitive areas," Patel added. He said, "Several areas, such as some otherwise untouched parts of Barda, have a heavy population of Maldharis. I had recommended that these families be rehabilitated. The last lions were spotted in Jam Barda outside Gir."
According to environmentalists, nearly a third of the 359 lions are out of the sanctuary area at any given point of time. Prides of lions have been spotted as far as Palitana, near Gir. Attacks on livestock in the area have been frequent recently, as there is no other prey base available to them.
s_jumana@dnaindia.net
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