Gujarat, the only home to the Asiatic Lion in the world, has been plagued by unnatural deaths of its pride in recent years. 

Despite numerous attempts at protection, according to the numbers revealed in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha, 239 lions have died in the last two years, 29 of which were unnatural deaths.

The numbers were revealed in response to the question asked by MLA Shailesh Parmar, where Parmar queried about the unnatural deaths of lions as of Dec 31, 2023.

Going deeper into the numbers, 55 lions, and 62 lion cubs died in 2022, whereas in 2023, 58 lions and 64 lion cubs lost their lives.

Out of this, 7 lions and 6 lion cubs died of unnatural causes in 2022, and for 2023, those numbers stood at 14 lions and 2 lion cubs losing their lives to unnatural deaths.

Other big cats, leopards, are also not safe, as 132 of them have died of unnatural causes in the last two years, too. A total of 404 leopards lost their lives in the same tenure.

59 leopards in 2022 and 73 in 2023 lost their lives to unnatural deaths.

Preventive steps

To prevent unnatural deaths of lions and leopards, several measures have been implemented.

These include the appointment of trackers, chainlinks around the Rajula-Pipavav railway track, high-tech monitoring at Sasan, radio collaring of lions, parapet walling of unprotected open wells in revenue areas around Gir border, and steps taken to prevent hunting of the wildlife.

Number disparity

Moreover, the numbers revealed in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha do not align. According to the Lok Sabha numbers, 103 lions died in 2023, however, the numbers revealed in Gujarat Vidhan Sabha point to 122 lion deaths.

The Lok Sabha numbers also revealed that since 2019, 555 lions have died in Gujarat.

For more such updates and news on the go, follow us on Instagram | YouTube | Facebook