The Asiatic lion news archive - 2002

Stories relating to the Asiatic lion and updates on the captive breeding programme from 2002.

DATELINE:JANUARY 30, 2002
So which is the predator lurking out there?

Wildlife officials trying to catch a big cat reportedly wandering in the Chennai zoo or in the neighbouring jungles have met with little success.

The animal -- which officials say could be a lion, a lioness or a panther, about two feet high and three years old -- was earlier sighted several times within the premises of Chennai zoo in the city's outskirts and has now reportedly moved into adjoining forests.

The latest sighting was in Chengalpet district, 70 km south of Chennai, triggering a scare among the villagers in the area.

The local media has been highly critical of the manner in which the big cat hunt is being handled.

"How did the lion get to Chengalpet?" asks the News Today, an English language evening paper. "It perhaps walked across from Gir (Gujarat)? It could not have boarded an electric train," it added, pointing out that the zoo premises were fenced.

The Gir forests in faraway Gujarat are the only remaining abode of the Asiatic lion.

The first reports of sightings came on January 22. According to the zoo authorities, the captive animals sounded the alarm, indicating that some strange predator was in the vicinity.

A motorist on the highway in the area cutting through the lion safari then reported that an animal like a "lioness" had been lurking in the bushes. The zoo feared at first that one of its lions could have escaped.

A watchman was then put on guard. He and a biologist at the park saw the animal a day later, but from a distance. "It wallowed in the sand and then disappeared," the watchman said.

The zoo authorities put 50 more forest department guards on duty to comb the area, which is a verdant jungle 50 km from Chennai. The zoo was closed to visitors.

Another watchman then saw the animal from 250 metres away. The authorities unsuccessfully tried to bait it with a goat.

According to P.C. Thyagi, the zoo director: "It is unusual for lions to run away. It is a majestic animal. This animal is elusive. It may be a panther. The barbed wire fences of the zoo are 10 feet high and it is not possible for any lion from outside to scale the fence and enter the zoo premises."

However, a panther could leap that high, he said. Besides, panthers are found in the forests on the Tirupati hills and other southern jungles.

On January 26, the Chengalpet district forest officer, K. Shankaran, reported to the zoo officials that villagers in his area had heard the "roaring of a lion." The forest officials found a lot of pug marks and faecal matter in the area. "But we could not identify whether the pug marks were that of a lion, lioness or panther," one official admitted.

Experts from Gir were consulted. "Gir officials have been unable to identify the animals from the photocopies of the pug marks and have advised tranquillising the animal when it is sighted next," Thyagi said.

Meanwhile, at the zoo, a count was taken of all the animals and the director said all the carnivores were accounted for.

Thyagi said Monday the animal's lair in Chengalpet had been identified and cordoned off. But he did not rule out the possibility of the animal sighted in Chengalpet being a different one from that lurking near the zoo.

"There could be two animals and not one," he conceded.