SASAN GIR: Since 1971, no more than 30 lions have been radio-collared for research, but following the CDV virus outbreak in September-October, the state government has begun radio-collaring some 44 wild lions, the number to be covered in the first phase of this project. The second phase will cover 56 lions.
“This is the first time lions are being radio-collared on such a scale. Such a large number of wild animals have never been radio-collared by any agency, let alone big cats,” said Dhiraj Mittal, DCF Dhari West, who is coordinating the project.
Wildlife Institue of India big-cat expert and Project Tiger member Y V Jhala said, “This is the first time that the Gujarat Forest department on its own is tagging lions. Such large scale tagging has not been taken even for tigers.”
Mittal said, “The decision to tag lions was taken to monitor their movements in areas where they are in regular contact with humans. The tagging will also help in disease surveillance. Among big cats, when an animal is sick it goes into hiding or isolation. This will immediately allow the monitoring team to know that the animal has been at one place for a couple of days and a lion ambulance or rescue team can be rushed to the spot.”
According to foresters, tagging one lioness or lion will also help monitor the movement of a full pride, as the entire group moves together. Thus, radio-collaring 100-odd lions would mean keeping an eye on 500 animals.
Monitoring from a control room will give information about how much the lion has moved or whether it has made an area its permanent home. The data will also provide an idea of whether the animal keeps coming to the Gir sanctuary or not.
|https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/forest-dept-to-put-high-tech-radio-collars-on-100-lions/articleshow/69747875.cms
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