Gujarat: What killed 30 lions? Probe inconclusive

AHMEDABAD: The four-member central committee comprising representatives of the Union government and prestigious wildlife and research institutes, have failed to reach a conclusion about the deaths of 30-odd lions in the past two months.
Top sources said that the report submitted by the committee advocates that in order to know what is ailing the lions, the visceras of deceased lions and samples from those rescued for treatment should be tested for all viral loads including Covid-19, canine distemper virus (CDV) and for bacterial infections prevalent in the area.
“The report states the deaths are being investigated by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre and the results are still awaited. However, in its recommendations, the team suggested that any lion rescued for treatment should be checked for all viral loads prevalent in the area, including Covid-19 and other infections. The visceras of lions that died unnatural deaths should also be checked for the same,” said a senior forest ministry official.
The central team including representatives from the Union ministry of forests and environment, the Wildlife Institute of India, the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Indian Veterinary Institute, New Delhi, had visited Gujarat at the end of May. The team was sent to ascertain if the 30-odd lion death had occurred due to CDV but failed to reach a conclusion about the deaths in and around Dhari.
The senior official said that the committee has also recommended that Gujarat follow the protocol laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in case of lion deaths.
The tiger death protocol mandates that every death be recorded and a postmortem carried out in the presence of NGOs and volunteers with samples sent to laboratories for further investigation.
An official, part of the probe team, said CDV could not be confirmed to be put on paper in the report. He, however, questioned why the samples from the dead lions were not sent to the NIV for testing.
In 2018, the state government had accepted that 27 lion deaths took place in Gir due to CDV after it was confirmed by NIV. Shyamal Tikadar, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) and chief wildlife warden of Gujarat, said samples could not be sent to NIV, Pune due to the lockdown.
Leader of the opposition in the state assembly Paresh Dhanani had recently written to the chief minister seeking a probe into the large number of unnatural lion deaths in Gir recently.
Experts point out that the state forest department had already announced procurement of kits for CDV testing which could have been used during the lockdown.
(With inputs by Nimesh Khakhariya from Rajkot)