AHMEDABAD:
In the past decade, there has been a 4-fold increase in the lion
territory in Gujarat. Villagers living on the periphery of Gir sanctuary
take pride in the growth of the lion population in their area. Barring
one incident of poaching in 2007 and five deaths by electrocution, the
big cats have been, by and large, safe areas adjoining Gir.
Forest department officials concede that it is only because of the
people living around Gir that the lions are safe outside the sanctuary.
On August 10, the world celebrates World Lion Day with this year's
campaign theme being, 'Saving the King of Beasts to Save Ourselves'.
The people of Saurashtra have looked after the big cats as their own
and have even sacrificed their cattle for them. In an unusual show of
affection for the big cats, people of Amreli organized a prayer meeting
after 13 lions were washed away in the flash floods that hit the
district recently.
Earlier, in 2013, the people of Kakrach
(also in Amreli district) had launched an agitation after their
'Rajmata,' a radio-collared lioness, had wandered away from the area. It
was later spotted in Gondal.
"The forest department captured
the lioness, gave it a new radio-collar, and kept it in the zoo," said
Manoj Joshi, trustee of Pariyavaran Samiti in the area. "But the local
residents went to the forest office and urged the officials to free the
lioness."
Even the panchayat passed a resolution and forced the
forest department to free the lioness. The lioness is now 14 years old
and still lives in the area.
Deputy conservator of forests
Anshuman Sharma said that there have been instances where the farmers
had told the forest officials not to capture the lioness as it acted
like a security guard, protecting them from other wild animals,
including the neelgai.
"I was once on patrolling duty when I
was told by a farmer not to disturb the lioness as it was protecting his
field," said Sharma. "The farmer told me that if the lioness leaves the
village, he would have to hire a man to keep watch on the field at
night."
Praveen Singh, who has made a documentary for a
wildlife channel, on lions living outside the sanctuary, said that the
big cats seemed to be doing quite well as the people seemed to trust
them.
"There may be an incident or two of lion-related violence
in a year but, by and large, most people take pride in the fact that
the lions live among them," said Singh. "The farmers are positive about
it. Many of them say that if the lions are there, deer won't come to
their fields. So it is a symbiotic relationship in a way. They can sleep
soundly at night."
Growing kingdom:
Of the 523 lions
in the state, 211 are in Amreli and Bhavnagar district alone. This is
around 40% of the total lion population of Gujarat. Officials say that,
in 2005, lions were found only in an area of 5,000sqkm. This had
increased to 10,000sqkm in 2010 and, in 2015, lions are found over
22,000sqkm.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gir-villages-take-pride-in-their-lions/articleshow/48417856.cms
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