Conservation efforts to secure the Asiatic lion

The conservation efforts being pursued to protect the future of the Asiatic lion fall into two areas: The work being done to secure the wild population in-situ, and the work being done to create a 'second population' in captivity. Both aspects of the conservation programme are vital to secure the future for the Asiatic lion, and work from each side feeds directly into the other.

Work in the field

As long ago as 1910 efforts were being made to conserve the Asiatic lion, when the Nawab of Junagadh banned the hunting of lions within his province. After India gained its independence in 1947 that ban was upheld and in the 1960s and 1970s the home territory of the last surviving Asiatic lions, in the Gir forest, was designated a National Park and a Sanctuary.

However, there is much that still needs to be done to improve the survival chances of the Asiatic lion in its natural habitat. In papers published in relation to conserving the lion population in-situ the following observations and suggestions have been made:

The most pressing threat to the lion population of the Gir PA comes from the increasing hostility toward them from the resident human population. A number of measures have been suggested which could be implemented to ease the situation.

It is vital that the Maldharis and villagers living within the Gir PA have some sense of the value of conserving the lions. This must not appear to be at the expense of human well-being. To that end the following recommendations have been made:

That the local population becomes much more involved in the conservation activities within the PA. At present the PA is managed by the Gir Forest Department (GFD) with a Conservator of Forest, three Deputy Conservators of Forest and a field staff of around 300. Benefits would be gained by including local residents within the field staff.

Although there is a system for compensating villagers for the loss of livestock to predation by lions there is scope to make it both simpler and more equitable. This could boost local support for lion conservation.

Lion-human interaction and its associated problems could be alleviated by relocating the resident human population to new locations outside the PA. However, such a programme would be extremely sensitive and most likely unpopular. A previous attempt to relocate Maldharis has been observed as having failed, leaving those that were moved in a state of penury. Though it is important to note that the Maldharis have a long cultural history and association with the lions, the more recent human migrants are the problem.

The habitat of the Gir must be protected and managed. It has been recommended that afforestation programmes in grasslands and savannah areas in Gir should be avoided in future. Opening up of the forest canopy by the thinning of teak stands would further improve the habitat for lions.

Where there is any opportunity to increase the range of the Gir PA it should be taken. It may be possible to establish corridors to surrounding suitable habitats. The adjoining Chachai-Pania sanctuary could be included within the Gir PA.

Consolidation of park boundaries where they edge to revenue lands could reduce lion-human conflict. There may be the possibility to exchange parts of the current Gir PA for revenue lands which project into the park.

The Gir habitat could be further protected from disturbance by measures to control traffic in the PA. These could include not laying tarmac on the roads to contain a heavy flow of traffic. The current metre gauge rail tracks should be maintained and not enlarged to broad gauge and trains should be prohibited from entering the PA after sunset.

So long as the Asiatic lion population remains restricted to a single location it is at risk from catastrophic events. It is vital that a second population be established at a new location. To that end much work has been carried out examining possible translocation sites. At a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop held in India in 1993 Palpur-Kuno, in the Madhya Pradesh region, was identified as the most viable candidate for a second lion population. Much work needs to be done such as establishing a viable prey base before lions can be translocated.

The current population within the Gir PA can easily sustain removal of sufficient adult animals to start a second population. Indeed, the removal of some lions may actually help maintain the current population within the PA as it seems to have reached capacity.

References:
Management of Asiatic lions in the Gir forest, India
R Chellam & AJT Johnsingh
Symp. zool. Soc. Lond. (1993)

Lion-Human conflict in the Gir forest, India
VK Saberwal, JP Gibbs, R Chellam & AJT Johnsingh
Conservation Biology (June 1994)