Himanshu Kaushik, TNN Mar 15, 2012, 05.33AM IST
AHMEDABAD: Illegal lion shows continue in the outskirts of Gir
sanctuary. Despite the forest department's efforts to curb this illicit
trend that has heckled animal rights activists to no end, the practice
of entertaining tourists by offering buffalos as bait for the Asiatic
lions continues undeterred.
The modus operandi of the illegal lion
show organizers is simple: An old and weak buffalo is tied in any
farmland, close to the abode of lions. Later, as the sun sets the lions
move out in search of food. As lions feed on the buffalo, the tourists
who are present begin clicking photographs.
A senior officer said that on several occasions some of forest beat
guards have also been found to be involved in such shows. Beat guards
who are working in the area act as informers to various hotels in the
region which promise 100% lion-sighting to tourists.
A senior
forest officer said that there are some hotels and resorts in Dhari
region that have been attracting tourists in this fashion. Dhari, said
the sources, is not in the tourism circuit of Gir. Earlier, for lion
sighting one had to drive around a long way to reach Sasan or Devaliya
which are the official tourism sites within the sanctuary. However now,
the illegal shows have begun drawing tourists to places which are on the
outskirts of the sanctuary.
In the past, relatives of forest
officials were found to have been involved in such illegal shows, said
the officials. The sources said that the area near Dhari was notorious
for such shows as lions often pass through, while moving out of the
sanctuary towards Bhavnagar. The area of Dhari and Amreli forms the
natural corridor.
Not just Amreli, but near Sasan too one could
earlier find such illegal lions shows in Babra Virdi area towards the
tourism zone.
Those organizing the show mint money. First, the
show-organizer collects around Rs 5,000-10,000 from the tourists for a
glimpse of lions eating the bait. Later, the same buffalo would be shown
to the authorities as a productive animal which had been preyed upon by
a lion. Proving this would entitle the buffalo owner to get a
compensation ranging from Rs 8,000-10,000 from the forest department.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-15/ahmedabad/31196300_1_gir-sanctuary-illegal-lion-asiatic-lions
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