New Delhi: At least 286 lions, including 143 cubs, have died in Gujarat over the last two years, state forest minister Mulubhai Bera informed the legislative assembly on Tuesday, March 4. In addition to that, 456 leopards, of them 140 cubs, have also died in 2023 and 2024 in the state, the Press Trust of India reported.
Bera shared this information while responding to a query by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar during Question Hour in the state Assembly.
Of the 286 lion deaths, 121 were reported in 2023, while 165 happened in 2024. It was also told that 58 of these deaths were due to unnatural causes like car accidents, drowning in open wells etc.
In the case of leopards, 225 of them died in 2023 while 231 died in 2024. These included 303 natural deaths and 153 of unnatural causes, the minister said in a written reply.
The data came to light just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent a morning on a lion safari in the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in Junagadh on the occasion of the World Wildlife Day.
Gujarat is the world’s largest abode of Asiatic lions, concentrated in the Gir forest. However, lion deaths have increased in the recent past.
Bera also told the House, as reported by PTI, that the state government has taken various steps to prevent unnatural deaths of the Asiatic lion and other wild animals. These include appointment of veterinary doctors, speed-breakers and sign boards on roads, ambulance services, regular foot patrolling in forests, parapet walls for open wells near forests, putting up fences on both sides of the railway track near the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and radio-collaring the big cats, among other measures.
Last year, the Gujarat high court ordered speed restrictions on trains passing through lion habitats to prevent accidents involving the endangered Asiatic lions of Gir forest.
According to a report by Gujarat Samachar, the state government has allocated Rs 40 crore to prevent railway accidents involving the big cat in the Gujarat Budget 2025-26. Additionally, the forest department will also set up a command and control unit to avoid the frequent lion deaths on railway tracks.
The Gujarat government also plans to monitor the activities of the forest department through a single platform and prevent lion accidents on railway tracks through the use of technology, Gujarat Samachar reported.
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