The state government has filed an affidavit in the Gujarat high court listing the steps it has taken to ensure the safety of lions. The reply was filed following a direction by a division bench after the high court took suo motu cognizance of the high number of lion deaths in the state in 2018.
Further hearing in the case will be held on January 28 after the amicus curia said that he needed to study the affidavits in detail.
The state in its reply said that it had formed a team of experts to ensure that there was no spread of the dangerous virus in and around Gir Sanctuary.
It should be noted that 23 lions had succumbed to their deaths in a span of a week, mainly due to Canine Distemper Virus.
The state also said that it had undertaken activities to cover open wells and also mark such dangerous wells. A division bench headed by the former chief justice of Gujarat High court R Subhash Reddy had earlier directed the government to take appropriate steps to ensure that the virus that killed the lions did not spread to other subdivisions.