June promise kept after 23 Gir lion deaths

AHMEDABAD: In June, the state government promised to set up a wildlife division — such as the one in Junagadh — for the social forest area of Amreli and Bhavnagar.
The promise was made after a video showing a lion being taunted with a chicken bait went viral. The promise has been fulfilled now, after lions started dying from September; so far, 23 lions have perished.

The new division will help the forest department conserve lions with staff dedicated exclusively to the purpose. Without a dedicated team, lion conservation in the two areas was patchy. Officials of the forest department said that the division will be headed by a chief conservator of forests; two deputy conservators will report to the chief.

Additional chief secretary, forest and environment, Rajiv Gupta said: “The separate division for lions in Amreli and Bhavnagar districts will boost conservation efforts.” It is estimated that 40% of Gujarat’s 523 lions move around in Amreli and Bhavnagar, areas where no special protection was accorded to the lions and where illegal lions shows were rampant. The video that surfaced in June was recorded somewhere in one of the two areas. And from September, 23 lions in Sarasiya Virdi of Amreli district, began to be hit by canine distemper virus and babesiosis.

As for the new division, officials said that each deputy conservator of forests will have a team including a range forest officer and trackers. This division will be the second for lion conservation in Saurashtra region.

The forest department has also decided to create a single authority in Saurashtra to oversee conservation initiatives. Officials said that Amreli and Bhavnagar areas where lions roam spans around 10,000 sq km.

The officials said that with a forest division coming up in the area, permission for new hotels, or for any other commercial activity including mining, will have to be cleared by the forest department.