Pride,with some ecology

Instead,the proposed new population will shift even farther. Monday’s Supreme Court judgment clears translocation to Kuno Palpur,Madhya Pradesh,which has long been ready to welcome the lions.

For Gujarat,the setback comes at a time when it has tapped the lion’s potential as a draw. Tourist inflow has increased since the campaign Khushboo Gujarat Ki,promoted by Amitabh Bachchan. From 2.09 lakh visitors to Gir and Devaliya Safari Park in 2009-10,the number rose to 3.02 lakh in April-December 2012 alone.

MP’s tourism marketing,on the other hand,has been always been aggressive with its Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho campaign,and with the number of wildlife sanctuaries it boasts.

In its efforts to continue its monopoly,Gujarat had been ceding larger and larger areas to the growing lion population,with the protected region now being nearly five times as large as it originally was. The last census in 2010 pegged the population at 411,spread over at least four districts,after it had dropped to a dozen-odd at the beginning of the century,leading to hunting bans in the years before Independence.

Since six lions were poached five years ago,Chief Minister Narendra Modi has announced a society for conservation of the lion,while the Gujarat tourism logo has been changed to a lion.

Barda,the alternative site being explored,spans just under 200 square kilometres,is 15 km from Porbandar city,and borders the sea. It already has large mammals such as leopards,hyenas,wild boars,wolves,jackals and blue-bulls,apart from boasting the state’s highest floral density.

Of Gujarat’s two arguments against translocation outside the state,one political and the other ecological,the latter hinges around the ground that lions should be allowed to reclaim lost territory — which once spread through West Asia and much of the subcontinent — on their own,and that conservation efforts should merely follow their lead.

Veteran conservationist Lavkumar Khachar,85,who has long held human environment as an integral part of the conservation effort,says it is “schoolboyish” of MP to seek lions when it has not been able to prove itself capable of looking after wild animals it already has,such as tigers.

“Law is different from biology,and with all respect to the Supreme Court,this may turn out to be a matter that cannot be adjudged by the law. This is a matter of principle that is not unique to this case alone,and we will see in the future what happens,” he says.

The political argument focuses on the lion as “the pride of Gujarat”,supposed property of the people of the state,especially residents of the forests and surrounding areas home to the sub-species. The state’s wildlife board has said the people of Saurashtra must first approve any plans to shift animals and appended this as an affidavit in the case in the Supreme Court.

“I have raised the issue before the forest department (many times),that they were arguing all the wrong things in the Supreme Court,” says G A Patel,former principal chief conservator of forest and who was one of the main opponents against relocation. Patel also subscribes to the ecological argument about letting lions reclaim their own territory.

“Arguing that lions belong to the state just annoyed the Supreme Court,” he says. “I had for long argued that environmental factors (in MP),including climate and terrain and particularly the human population,are not conducive for animals as friendly as lions. Even aggressive tigers get poached there in MP. How will lions survive?”

The Gujarat government has so far been silent on the order,though some political leaders have expressed disappointment. Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand Parimal Nathwani,who hails from Saurashtra,calls the order “unfortunate for Gujarat”.

“The several-centuries-old habitat of this rare species in Gir has been the most appropriate location because of its geographical,climatic,environmental and bio-diverse peculiarities. Gir’s characteristics are unique and rare; there is no parallel to Gir in the country or the world. There is every possibility that the new habitat may prove unsuitable to the translocated lions,” Nathwani says.