The Asiatic lion news archive - 2003

Stories relating to the Asiatic lion and updates on the captive breeding programme from 2003.

DATELINE: October 25, 2003
Gir lions find new sanctuary

GANDHINAGAR: Putting an end to the controversy over a move to shift Gir lions to Madhya Pradesh, the state government has sought the Centre’s permission to set up a new lion sanctuary at Mithiyala in Amreli district to provide more protection to the Asiatic lions.

Because of the increasing number of deaths of lions in the Gir lion sanctuary along with congestion in the forest area the government has prepared a proposal for Mithiyala where a new sanctuary covering an 18 square km area will be created once the project is cleared by the Centre. Plans have also been afoot to shift some of the lions to Barda hills in Jamnagar district.

Sources said that at present at least nine lions that have moved from Gir have chosen Mithiyala as their home as this forest has similar surroundings.

The forest department will fence the area on the lines of the Gir lion sanctuary. The facilities at the sanctuary will require a budget of at least Rs 2 crore.

Seventy lions including 20 cubs have died in the past two years in the Gir lion sanctuary, mainly due to poaching. The population of lions has reached 327 in this sanctuary, which is one of the largest ones spread across a 1,400 km area in Asia.

“We are trying to provide high level protection to the lions of Gir by setting up the new sanctuary at Mithiyala which will also solve the problem of the Meta population confronting the Gir lion sanctuary,” sources in the government said.

The proposal has been pending clearance by the Centre along with a proposal for another bird sanctuary at Charidaund in the Rann of Kutch for migratory birds coming from Central Asia and Europe.

Chief conservator of forest (wildlife) Pradeep Khanna said that the proposals for both the Mithiyala lion sanctuary and the Charidaund bird sanctuary are pending approval of the Union forest department. At present the state has 21 sanctuaries and four national parks.

Source: Anil Pathak, Times of India