It's not
just goods trains and speeding vehicles that claim the lives of Asiatic
lions at the Gir Forest. The carnivores also meet watery grave in open
wells.
Around
7,000 uncovered wells exist in the protected forest and protected
areas. The issue came into limelight yet again after a 12-year-old lion
drowned in a 30-foot well in Khilavad village recently.
According to forest officials, the paucity of funds has resulted in these wells being left uncovered.
Officials
claim that 15 lions previously fell prey to drowning every year on
average, but the situation now is much better due to improved vigil.
The
forest department generally receives 110 distress calls with regard to
lions and 290 for leopards. While lion falls stand at seven per cent,
the number with regards to leopards is over 14 per cent.
Official
sources said the forest department has requested the government to
double funds - from Rs 8,000 to Rs 16,000. In 2008, over 25,000 open
wells existed in and around the forest following which the government
granted Rs 8,000 to farmers to cover them and build barriers around
them.
Another
problem plaguing the authorities is the rise in the number of lions.
With the increase in numbers, their territory has spread over 20,000
square kilometres in the Saurashtra region.
Around 6,000 wells lie in the new terrain, which serves as a habitat to 168 Asiatic lions.
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