Asiatic lion census to be carried out in Gujarat from May 10 to 13

The exercise will be held in two phases between May 10 and 13. The primary estimation will be done on May 10 and 11 and final estimation will be done on May 12 and 13. The census will cover a total of 35000 square km spread across 11 districts of Saurashtra region. The 11 districts include Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendranagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Amreli, Porbandar and Botad. Lions were found to have claimed territory up to Botad in 2023.

A senior forest officer said that such exercises are conducted on days around full moon and when minimum water is available in the jungle (Express Photo)

Estimation process method

The estimation will be done using the Direct Beat Verification method that the Forest Department has been adopting for the past three decades. As per the officials of the Forest Department, the method gives almost 100 % accuracy with nearly zero chance of error. Under the method, the entire area of exercise will be divided in regions, zones and sub zones with appointment of regional, zonal, sub-zonal officials, enumerators and assistant enumerators, supervisors and volunteers. The officials and volunteers will be provided prefixed sheets and maps of areas to be covered. The sheets will have details like time of observation, direction of lion’s movement, gender, age, marks on the body and any other sign of identification, GPS location, group composition etc. Modern technological equipment such as high resolution cameras, camera traps will also be put to use. An e-GujForest application of the department will be used for real time data entry of lion observation that will include GPS location and photograph. Forest officials said that some lions have been radio collared and it will help in tracing their location and that of its group members.

Why these dates ?

A senior forest officer said that such exercises are conducted on days around full moon and when minimum water is available in the jungle. “The principle is that when there is water scarcity in the jungle, the animal has to come to water points at least once in 24 hours. And this makes its visual counting possible,” the officer said. The next full moon is on May 12.

What will be different from the 15th census?

The last estimation of lions, done in 2020, was based on Poonam Avlokan (full moon observation). It was not a full fledged exercise like the next one in which a huge team of forest officials and volunteers will do actual estimation of the lions for four days in two phases. The first phase will include observation for 24 hours. Then there will be a 24-hour gap. And again there is observation for 24 hours. In 2020, the actual census exercise was not conducted owing to Covid-19 pandemic and the Poonam Avlokan was considered as the 15th census.

The census will cover a total of 35000 square km spread across 11 districts of Saurashtra region (Express Photo)

Ensuring transparency

To maintain transparency of the exercise, members of the national and state wildlife boards, experts from different fields, and experts on lions and their behavior will be invited to join the forest officials. In all, around 3000 people will be part of the exercise.

Current population

According to the 15th lion estimation, the total population of lions was 674. That includes 260 females, 161 males, 93 sub-adults and 137 cubs.

The first census

According to Gujarat government records, the first ever lion census was conducted by the Nawab of Junagadh in 1936. In 1965, Gir forest was declared a sanctuary and Gujarat Forest Department has been regularly conducting lion censuses every five years since. But due to various reasons, the 6th and 8th lion censuses were delayed by a year. The 11th lion census was due in 2000 but was deferred by a year due to rains that year.

Why is it conducted in summer only

Gir forest is a dry and deciduous forest, the foliage of which reduces to its minimum during the hot season, increasing visibility in the forest. Streams and rivers run dry in summer and wild animals remain localised around approximately 500 water points in the lion landscape, thus making their sighting and counting easier. The forest remains driest in April-May. On the other hand, movement inside Gir becomes difficult once the monsoon begins, due to dense vegetation, washed-away forest tracks and flowing streams and rivers.