Asiatic lions are now regarded as a nearly extinct species. This is why Gir National Park India aims to preserve and multiply its number by giving them a home. There are breeding programs and a 5 year interval census conducted to ensure the preservation of this species.
Gir Forest National Park & Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary and forest located in Guajarat, India, about 65 kilometers southeast of Junagadh. It is also called Sasan Gir. It was established in the year 1965. Its total area is estimated at 1412 square kilometers.
Gir National Park houses the Asiatic Lions. For this reason, the park is regarded as one amongst the most vital protected areas in Asia. With the efforts of its government forest department, this wildlife sanctuary is being successfully protected for its ecosystem – especially with its diverse fauna and flora. In fact, many NGOs and activists continue to fight for the protection of the species thriving here. This helped decrease the threat of slaughter to Asiatic Lions due to trophy hunting.
Records indicate that as of April 2005, the lion count in Sasan Gir National Park has increased to 359 as compared to the 327 of 2001. Since its inception, the total number of lions bred has been estimated at 180.
Gir Forest National Park Interpretation Zone
Since there are no designated areas for tourists in the park, they were able to decrease tourism hazard through the Interpretation Zone. Through this, they were also able to promote nature education. This is found still within the sanctuary – at Devalia.
The park has chained fences covering all habitat wildlife along its double gate entry system and feeding cum living cages meant for carnivores. The typical population inside the zone comprise of nearly 100 Bluebull or Nilgau, 100 spotted deer, 15 wild boars and 6 sambars as well as blackbucks. There are also many other reptilian and mammal species as well as birds.
Only a few tourists can enter the sanctuary. In fact, there are also designated routes for this. If you plan to visit Gir National Park, the best time to visit is actually any time except for the monsoon season.
Distribution, Population and Habitat for the Asiatic Lion
The habitat conducive for Asiatic lions should be an open deciduous forest or dry scrubland. The origin of these lions would be from Northern Greece, Southwest Asia or Northern Africa. In the wild, there are only 350 of its species – and all these are already in Gir Forest National Park.
There is actually a lion breeding program and many breeding centers who not only study the behavior of these Asiatic lions; they also aim to multiply their number via artificial insemination. A good example is Sakkarbaug Zoo found along Junagadh s district headquarters. This breeding center alone was able to breed about 180 lions. Amongst them, 126 of pure Asiatic lions were distributed to zoos all over India and abroad.
Counting and census of these lions are conducted every 5 years. Methods that involve the use of pugmarks are adapted. It was only during the April 2005 census when they used the “block direct total count” method, wherein, about 1,000 volunteers, experts and forest officials gave a hand to make these possible. The method only emphasized on Asiatic lions they can spot visually. They used live bait to lure the Asiatic lions. However, this method was afterwards ruled out by the Gujarat High Court.
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