Another Wildlife Attack in Gujarat as Lion Kills 12-Year-Old Pilgrim at Girnar

A 12-year-old boy was killed after being attacked by a lion while climbing the steps of Girnar mountain in Junagadh early on Friday morning. According to officials and family members, the animal dragged the child into the adjoining forest, where search teams later recovered his clothes and partial remains.

The incident prompted an immediate response from the forest department and police. Authorities closed the main stair route to Girnar as a precaution and diverted devotees to the old staircase near Jatashankar while search operations for the lion continued.

“The Lion Pulled the Child From My Hands”: Uncle

According to preliminary information, the victim was part of a family from Modaj village in Mehmedabad taluka of Kheda district that had travelled to Girnar on a pilgrimage.

The attack occurred shortly after the family entered the main gate and had climbed around 50 steps.

The child’s uncle, Anil Kumar Singh Chauhan, said, “The family had only reached about 50 steps inside the main gate of Girnar. Meanwhile, a lion suddenly came out of the darkness and attacked my 12-year-old nephew Mayur Singh from behind. The lion pulled the child from my hands and fled towards the forest in a matter of seconds.”

Family members raised an alarm before forest personnel launched a search operation. The child’s shoes, blood-soaked clothes and some of his remains were later recovered from the forest.

Family Questions Safety Arrangements

The victim’s family criticised the administration, alleging inadequate safety measures along the Girnar stairway.

They said poor lighting made it difficult for pilgrims to spot wild animals in the dark and demanded better illumination along the route. The family also called for forest personnel to be stationed at regular intervals on the steps to improve pilgrim safety.

Search Under Way, Main Stair Route Closed

The forest department has formed multiple teams to search for the lion involved in the attack and has placed cages in the area as part of efforts to capture the animal.

Meanwhile, access to the main staircase has been suspended, with devotees being directed to use the older route near Jatashankar until further notice.

Recent Lion Attacks in Gujarat

This is just the latest among several fatal and serious lion attacks reported across Gujarat in recent months. Some recent incidents include:

• July 9: A 21-year-old man was killed in a suspected lion attack near the Luvariya Reserve Forest in Amreli district after he and a friend allegedly disturbed a mating lion, according to forest officials.
• July 7: A lioness attacked a man in Bhavnagar district. Videos circulating on social media showed the man surviving with serious injuries after rescuers intervened.
• June 21: A lioness snatched a five-year-old boy from his grandfather’s arms in Chaturi village of Amreli district and killed him. Forest officials later recovered the child’s remains from the vomit of one of the captured lions. The attack was the third reported in Amreli district within a month.
• June 16: A 25-year-old restaurant worker was mauled to death by a lion in Amreli district, forest department officials said.
• March 10: A five-year-old boy, the son of a farm labourer from Madhya Pradesh, was killed after being attacked by a lioness near a settlement in Manavav village in Dhari taluka of Amreli district.

Experts Warn Habitat Has Not Kept Pace with Lion Population

The latest attack comes days after wildlife experts warned that Gujarat’s focus on increasing the population of Asiatic lions has not been matched by efforts to expand their habitat.

At a conference in Junagadh last Sunday, wildlife experts and environmentalists claimed Gujarat has not added any new forest area in the past 15–20 years while submitting around 1,560 proposals to divert forest land for industries and other projects.

Experts also noted that nearly 44 per cent of Gujarat’s estimated 891 Asiatic lions now live outside the Gir sanctuary, increasing the likelihood of encounters with humans.

Wildlife expert Bhushan Pandya attributed the rise in attacks partly to illegal lion shows organised for tourists, local media said.

“Tourists insist on seeing lions at night, which has motivated locals to organise illegal shows after dark. Seeing a pair commands one price, a pair with cubs costs more, and a mating pair costs even more. Bhagat, aged 9 to 12, is generally calm, but disturbing a lion during mating can prove fatal. Those organising illegal shows should be dealt with severely,” Pandya was quoted as saying by local newspaper reports.