The Asiatic lion news archive - 1999

Stories relating to the Asiatic lion and updates on the captive breeding programme from 1999.

DATELINE : June 17th 1999 - BOMBAY, India
Thirsty lions killed by live wire:

Two lions strayed from their western Indian wildlife reserve to a nearby village to search for water and were electrocuted by a live wire fence, a newspaper reported Monday. Farmers with fields near the forest often rig up illegal electric fences to protect their crops from animals in the Gir reserve, officials said. Villagers place iron rods around their fields and wire them to the nearest high voltage electricity cable.

"Death is instant for whoever comes in contact with the fencing. Even unsuspecting humans have died in this manner," K.S. Randhawa, a forest department official, was quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper.

The lions may have died as much as two weeks ago, but forest officials only recently learned of the deaths because a farmer in Intwaya village in Maharashtra state buried the animals without informing authorities. Officials raided the farm and dug up the lions after villagers told them of the deaths, the newspaper reported. According to the postmortem report, the lions died of high-voltage electric shocks. Police were looking for the farmer who went missing after the raid.

Poor rainfall in the Gir sanctuary, home to as many as 300 Asiatic lions, may have forced the animals to search for water in villages that border the wildlife reserve, officials said.

Copyright 1999 Nando Media
Copyright 1999 Associated Press
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