After multiple lion sightings and a fatal attack, Gujarat to hire 25 trackers for Mount Girnar

As recently as Thursday (August 6) night, three lions were spotted crossing the old and new staircases, Junagadh Deputy Conservator of Forests Akshay Joshi told The Indian Express.

Forest officials maintained continuous vigil on the big cats till they crossed into the forest and there was no human-wildlife conflict, DCF Joshi said in a statement. The Forest department authorities have also appealed people to move only in groups in night time while not to leave their kids alone at all and to follow the instructions of the forest department.

The DCF Junagadh district, who is also a member of the Gujarat State Lion Conservation Society (GSLCS), an arm of the state forest department, announced the new openings of forest trackers for the region last month with July 22 being the last date to apply. And around 3400 candidates have applied for the post. The final appointments are expected to be done soon following completition of ongoing interviews and subsequent verifications.

To be appointed on an 11-month contract, each tracker has been offered a salary of Rs 15,914 per month. The candidates should be under 35 years old and should have cleared Class 10, apart from having a “keen interest in wildlife”.

The Junagadh DCF said that apart from the minimum educational qualification, the aspiring candidates’ fitness and knowledge about wildlife will be among the key areas to be considered in the recruitment process. On July 11, a 12-year-old boy who was climbing the mountain to one of the shrines with his family was dragged away by a lion, raising serious concerns about the safety of the pilgrims.

Following the incident, Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia had announced a range of measures to ensure security of pilgrims on Mount Girnar and the new hiring is a part of them.

Forest officials said that the forest trackers will be placed on duty at the area around Mount Girnar to see that the lions do not venture towards the stairs of the pilgrimage and even if they do they can be guided properly towards the forest.

Currently, a team of forest trackers from Sasan has been deployed in the region for the safety of pilgrims. From July 11, pride of lions have crossed the staircases of Mount Girnar, at least twice.

Forest trackers are considered a critical link in the lion conservation story of Gujarat. And currently, around 200-odd forest trackers are on job in the lion landscape of the state. The forest trackers provide real-time information on the movement of lion prides in the region, alerting a human settlement if the big cat moves too close or trying to save the animal from being run over by a train.

Checkposts, AI cameras

Apart from recruitment of 25 forest trackers in the region around Mount Girnar, the district forest authorities have submitted a proposal to the state government for the safety of pilgrims on Mount Girnar. The proposal include setting up of nine permanent checkposts at different locations on the three staircases of Mount Girnar and installation of AI-enabled cameras in the areas near the the pilgrimage so that any movement of a lion or a leopard could be captured and the forest department officials notified about the same for timely action.

“The proposal is subject to sanction by the state government,“ a senior officer said.