Lion found dead in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary

[Mrudul Godbole]

AMRELI (Gujarat) : An eight-year-old lion was found dead in Dhari forest range of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in the second such incident in less than

a week, forest officials said.

The body was recovered a couple of days ago by some villagers in Khamba taluka, they said.

According to the officials, the big cat could have died of some disease but the exact cause will be known only after the post-mortem.

The taluka from where the body was recovered falls in the eastern part of the Sanctuary, the last abode of Asiatic lions in the world.

A 10-year-old lion was found dead near Pipalva village in the same taluka on October 15 and forest officials had said the wild cat had died of old age.

According to the last lion census conducted in 2005, there were 359 lions in the Gir region.

TOI Link - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...ow/5143192.cms

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The lion numbers had plummeted to double digits and had recovered from there to the present day 300 odd. This means the present population is not likely to have sufficient genetic variability. Each death has serious implications on the future of the population.

I hope several prides from Gir can be relocated to establish a separate population so that a sudden unforseen event wont wipe out the entire population.

Sabyasachi