Gir lions pride of not only Gujarat but entire Asia: CM Bhupendra Patel

GNPWLS and other protected areas, spread across 10 of 11 districts in Saurashtra, are the only places in the world where wild Asiatic lions are found. In fact, these lions are the only second population of wild lions in the world. While Africa hosts the largest population of lions, Asiatic lions can only be found in Gujarat.

Addressing the event, Patel said: “Lion occupies a unique place in our culture. The vehicle of Goddess Jagdamba is a lion. India’s National Emblem has lions. World leader, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also has a special corner for lions of Sasan. He has chosen the Gir’s lion for the logo of his flagship project Make in India. Lion’s power and awe have seeped so deep in our lives that we equate the powerful and big personalities with the lion. When… our country is making its name in the world, other countries are saying that India’s lion roars. Lion is called the king of the jungle and the lion of sorath is the pride of not only Gujarat but entire Asia.” Sorath refers to Junagadh in Saurashtra.

He highlighted how the Union government has allocated Rs 2,900 crore under Project Lion for conservation of Asiatic lions, which have been categorised as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on its Red List of threatened species.

“Thanks to conservation efforts, the population of lions jumped to 674 in 2020 from 411 in 2010 and the lion territory expanded from Gir forest to Sayla and Chotila and today covers 30,000 sq km,” Patel said.

Forest officials said that lions now move in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar districts. They added that that World Lion Day celebrations were held in over 8,500 schools and colleges in these 10 districts.

“This year, we also included Devbhumi Dwarka in our programmes to mark World Lion Day, as lions have already started moving in parts of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary. Thus, the number of districts where lions have been spotted has gone up to 10 this year from nine last year,” a senior forest officer who was involved in organising the event said.

Enlisting conservation efforts of the Gujarat government, the CM said that while train speed on railway tracks crossing Gir forest has been restricted to 20 km per hour, no trains are allowed to ply on this sector during night.

He also announced setting up a lion safari park at Una taluka in Gir Somnath to ease the burden on Gir National Park at Sasan-Gir. “To reduce the pressure of increasing number of tourists at the safari park in Sasan, the state has approved a project of building a safari park at Naliya Mandvi in Gir Somnath’s Una taluka in Gir (east) division,” said the CM.

The Gujarat forest department has been celebrating World Lion Day on August 10 every year since 2016.

CM launches mobile app that will help forest dept track lions

Ahmedabad: On the occasion of World Lion Day, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday launched a mobile application that will help the state forest department track the movement of lions through the information shared by common people using the app. The application named ‘Sinh Suchna’ was launched at an event held in Gandhinagar. “With this app, common people can directly inform the state forest department about the movement of lions in their area so that timely steps can be taken. This mobile will help us in locating lions in real time and also help the authorities in avoiding human-animal conflicts,” Patel said after launching the app. also The CM also launched a coffee table book, The King of Jungle, Asiatic Lions of Gir, written by IFS officer Sakkira Begum as well as Hun Girno Sinh, a book by Amit Chudasama. —PTI & ENS

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