RAJKOT: A lion cub died was killed after being hit by a goods train in Gujarat's Amreli district on Sunday.
The seven-month-old male cub was found lying besides the track between
Bherai and Pipavav port. Some villagers spotted the body and called
forest department officials.
"We came to know about it at
around 6.30am. Preliminary investigation shows that the cub died due to
severe head injuries," P Purushothama, deputy conservator of forests, in
charge of Amreli forest division, told TOI.
Due to heavy rains
in the region, the cub's body could not be taken to Dhareshwar nursery
near Rajula where the postmortem is usually conducted.
Wildlife
experts said that besides long-term measures like building smart green
infrastructure train drivers need to be trained in lion behaviour.
"Such accidents are completely avoidable. Railways should impose
stringent standard operating procedures for trains like speed limits and
special course for drivers who should be taught about the sudden
movement of lions, their behaviour etc. As a long-term solution, the
government needs to adopt smart green infrastructure like in many
foreign countries where railways and roads don't overlap with the
territories of animals," said Priyavrat Gadhvi, member, state wildlife
board. Gadhvi said that there is an urgent need to notify these belts as
protected areas.
In January two lionesses, one of them
pregnant with three cubs, were run over by goods train on
Savarkundla-Rajula track near the port. In February a lion died in a
similar way near Bhammar village.
Sources in forest department
said that the railway officials of Bhavnagar division have expressed
their inability to reduce speed of the trains. "We did discuss the
problem with them but they said that reducing trains' speed will result
in the schedule of many trains going haywire," said a senior forest
official.
According to the census of 2010, there are 108 Asiatic lions in Amreli district.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Lion-cub-run-over-by-train-in-Gujarat/articleshow/34993685.cms
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