Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
The population of majestic Asiatic Lions in Gujarat’s Gir Forest is up by almost 29%. The “good news” was announced by Prime Minister Narendra who said the geographically their distribution area was also up by 36%.
“Kudos to the people of Gujarat and all those whose efforts have led to this excellent feat.
“Over the last several years, the lion population in Gujarat has been steadily rising. This is powered by community participation, emphasis on technology, wildlife healthcare, proper habitat management and steps to minimise human-lion conflict. Hope this positive trend continues,” the Prime Minister, who has also served as the CM of the State, added.
According to the survey conducted through an exercise familiarly called ‘Poonam Avlokan’, the population of Asiatic Lions has shown a steady increase with a population of 674 individuals, an increase rate of 28.87%. This is one of the highest growth-rate so far from the previous growth of 27% during 2015 (523 lions).The statement issued by the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State said, the distribution of the lions also increased from 22,000 sq-km in 2015 to 30,000 sq-km in 2020, an increase of 36%.
“There has been a consistent increase in the population and distribution area of Asiatic Lions mainly owing to the effective conservation and management by the Gujarat Forest Department.
“Multiple strategies and interventions have been implemented in the Asiatic Lion Landscape that have majorly contributed to the current conservation success of the Asiatic lions like people’s participation, use of modern technology, wildlife health care, import of CDV vaccine, habitat management, increase in prey base, human-lion conflict mitigation, etc.,” it said.
The Asiatic lion once faced with imminent extinction are present in protected areas and agro-pastoral landscape of Saurashtra covering nine districts.
The population estimation is conducted at an interval of five years.
The last exercise was conducted in May 2015 which pegged their number at 523, a 27% increase from the estimation of 2010.
The 15th Asiatic Lion Population Estimation was scheduled during June 5-6, but due to Covid -19 situation it could not be conducted as planned.
In order to develop an understanding of the current population status and distribution the Gujarat Forest Department conducted an exercise familiarly called Poonam Avlokan using Direct Beat Verification also known as the Block Count method, according to the statement.
