AT LEAST two incidents of lion attacks on humans were reported from Bhavnagar and Amreli districts since Sunday night – with victims in both the incidents now undergoing treatment for their injuries in hospitals.
In Bhavnagar, a sub-adult lion attacked a man and a video of the incident surfaced on social media. In the video, the lion is seen sitting on top of the injured man and the latter is trying to break free, while villagers raise an alarm nearby.
The incident was reported from Garajiya village of Palitana tehsil in the district, which falls under Palitana Wildlife Range. Forest department officials identified the injured as Kalubhai Parmar, a resident of Garajiya village.
The office of Range Forest Officer, Palitana Range, said in a statement that on June 5, a “prey was made” by a wild lion near Sonpari village. And then, around 9 am on Monday, the lion reached the revenue hill area in Garajiya village that is part of lions’ permanent movement corridor. The note said that despite instructions from a tracker of the Forest Department, some villagers did not stay away from the lion after it attacked a buffalo belonging to a local resident.
The statement added that following this, some villagers harassed the lion, even running after it and trying to confine the big cat. A local resident, Kalubhai Parmar, was injured by the lion when he tried to protect his livestock. The lion then fled into the revenue hill area nearby.
The incident was reported around 9 am on Monday.
Forest Department officials soon reached the village and shifted Parmar first to Palitana Government Hospital and then to Bhavnagar Government Hospital for treatment.
In the statement, the forest department also underlined that the best example of Asiatic lions’s coexistence is that the Maldhari (cattle herders) community is aware of its behaviour.
“And therefore, Kalubhai Parmar understood the behaviour of wildlife, kept his cool, acted in a timely and prudent manner by not making any movement and ran his hand over the neck of the lion. And seeing this (timely act of Parmar of not panicking) the lion left, leaving him in the same condition without causing him any further injury.”
Parmar, speaking to mediapersons later from hospital, claimed that the lion “caught hold of him for nearly half an hour”.
Forest officials said a search has been launched to catch the lion.
The Forest Department has also made an appeal to people not to harass any wild animal and to immediately contact Forest Department officials whenever its presence is sighted without trying to drive it away themselves.
In another incident in Thhavi village of Savarkundla tehsil in Amreli district, a man, Raju Vaghela, was attacked by a lion while he was asleep in his hut on Sunday night. The man suffered serious leg injuries. The area falls under Jesar Wildlife Range.
According to a statement by Jesar Range of the Forest Department, the incident happened around 10:45 pm on Sunday night. The lion suddenly attacked Vaghela, after which local residents raised an alarm and the lion ran towards the jungle area. Vaghela was shifted to Savarkundla Government Hospital for treatment.
The Forest Department has intensified tracking and night patrolling at the spot of the incident and surrounding areas. At the same time, the Jesar Range Forest Officer has appealed people to be vigilant in the night hours and not to venture out alone into the village outskirts.
The Saurashtra region of Gujarat, the only surviving natural habitat of Asiatic Lions, has witnessed an increase in attacks on humans by the big cats in recent months. The latest two incidents have taken the count of such incidents wherein a person was killed or suspected to have been killed by lions to six in recent weeks.
Last month, Forest and Environment Minister Arjun Modhwadia visited the family of a five-year-old boy who was mauled to death by a lioness in an Amreli village. During the visit, Modhwadia had stated that the government would take long-term and short-term measures to curb incidents of man-animal conflict.
As per the Lion Population Estimation in 2025, there are 891 lions in Gujarat.
A video grab of the lioness attack in Gujarat's Bhavnagar district. (Image enhanced by AI) 
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