New Asian Lions arrive at Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork

2 June 2016
By David O’Sullivan
david@TheCork.ie

Fota are pleased to announce the addition of a new species to their Wildlife Park. In recent days, two Asian lions arrived in Fota Wildlife Park from Helsinki in Finland. These two females (Gita and Gira) completed their arduous journey across six countries from their Finnish home and eventually arrival safely to Fota. Their arrival in Fota is of monumental importance as they settle into life in the park’s Asian Sanctuary. The Asian Sanctuary is already home to a number of critically endangered species including both the Sumatran tiger, Indian rhino Francois langur and Visayan warty pigs.
The majestic Asiatic lion once roamed across the Middle East and Asia, from Greece to Bangladesh, However, by the early 1900s the species had been hunted to the brink of extinction. Today, an estimated 500 Asiatic lions exist in the wild, living in the Indian state of Gujarat, Western India. The Gir Forest National Park and Sanctuary remains the stronghold for this species in the 21st Century and its protection is of paramount importance.

Gita, one of the two Asiatic lions who are the latest arrivals in Fota Wildlife Park from a zoo in Helsinki, Finland. Pic: Darragh Kane

The lions live closely alongside humans in their last remaining natural habitat, including the Maldhari community, who live within the Gir Forest. A small number of prides are also found living outside of the protected areas, amongst local communities in the surrounding farmland and hills. Apart from Asiatic lions, the Gir Forest is also home to a wealth of biodiversity, including langur monkeys, jackals, leopards, antelope, deer, crocodiles and over 300 bird species.
Due to conservation initiatives, this small population is steadily increasing but the species is listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as it is still vulnerable to many threats. An outbreak of contagious disease or natural disaster could have drastic consequences for the species.
Although on first glance, both the African and Asian Lion appear to be similar in appearance, the Asiatic lion differs from the African lion in its genetic make-up and skeletal structure. Compared to their African cousins, Asian lions have shaggier coats, with a longer tassel on the end of the tail and longer tufts of hair on the elbows. The most noticeable physical characteristic found in all Asian lions, but rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along their belly.
The mane of the Asian lion is generally shorter than that of the African lion, so the ears are always visible. Asian lions are, in general, slightly smaller than African lions.
Sean McKeown, director of Fota Wildlife Park said, ‘Protecting the remaining Asiatic lions in the wild is crucial to enable the population to grow and ensure the future survival of this irreplaceable species. However the population of almost 200 Asian lions within Zoos and Parks form and an essential safeguard and genetic resource if disease, social economic factors or political issues cause a dramtic fall in the wild populations as has happened in the past. Fota Wildlife Park is committed to the conservation of this species and long-term the wildlife park hopes to contribute to the captive breeding programme for one of the world’s most endangered big cats.’
A male Asian lion from a Spanish Zoo is due to join the two females Asian lions at Fota later this summer and hopefully start a new pride. The Asian Lions will be visible to visitors at the Asian Sanctuary in Fota Wildlife Park from this weekend, June 4th.
Fast Facts

• The Asian Lion (Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in India and therefore it is also known as the Indian or Gir lion. Asian Lions once ranged from the Mediterranean to India, covering most of Southwest Asia where it was also known as the Persian Lion.
• Like their African cousins, Asian lions are highly sociable animals living in social units called prides. The Asian lion pride is smaller. Studies have shown that most Gir prides contain just two adult females as compared to the average African pride which contains 4 to 6 adult females.
• Male Asian lions measure 1.7 – 2.5 metres long and weigh 150 – 250 kilograms, while female Asian lions measure 1.4 – 1.75 metres in length and weigh in at 120 – 182 kilograms. The Asian lions tail averages around 70 – 105 centimetres long.
• Similar to most large cats Asian lions are equipped with powerful retractable claws and long sharp canine teeth that are used in dragging their prey to the ground.
• The Asian lion is a carnivore. Its typical diet consists of deer, antelope, wild boar and buffalo.
• Mating is not seasonal and takes place all year round. Male Asian lions reach sexual maturity at around 5 years old and female Asian lions reach sexual maturity earlier at around 4 years old. The gestation period last for between 100 – 119 days after which 1 – 6 cubs are born. Intervals between births can be 18 – 26 months.

Fota Wildlife Park is open 7 days a week, 363 days a year, including Bank Holidays, with the exceptions of Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day.

http://thecork.ie/2016/06/02/new-asian-lions-arrive-at-fota-wildlife-park-in-co-cork/

Say hello to Gita and Gira as Asiatic lions arrive at the wildlife park

Thursday, June 02, 2016

TWO lions arrived at their new home in Fota Island this week as part of the Wildlife Park’s Asian Sanctuary.
Gita and Gira are two female Asiatic lions, who were born in captivity in Helsinki in Finland. They will be joined by a male lion from a Spanish zoo later this summer to start a new pride here in Cork.

Gita, one of the two Asiatic lions who are the latest arrivals in Fota Wildlife Park from a zoo in Helsinki, Finland. Pic: Darragh Kane.

Compared to their African cousins, Asiatic lions have shaggier coats, with a longer tassel on the end of the tail and longer tufts of hair on the elbows.
Sean McKeown, director of Fota Wildlife Park said: “Protecting the remaining Asiatic lions in the wild is crucial to enable the population to grow and ensure the future survival of this irreplaceable species.
“However, the population of almost 200 Asian lions within zoos and parks forms an essential safeguard and genetic resource if disease, social economic factors, or political issues cause a dramatic fall in the wild populations as has happened in the past.
“Fota Wildlife Park is committed to the conservation of this species and, long-term, the wildlife park hopes to contribute to the captive breeding programme for one of the world’s most endangered big cats.”

Gita, one of the two Asiatic lions who are the latest arrivals in Fota Wildlife Park. Pic: Darragh Kane.

After being hunted to the brink of extinction by the early 1900s, there are only an estimated 500 Asiatic lions in the wild, mainly living in the Indian state of Gujarat. Due to conservation initiatives, this wild population is steadily increasing but the species is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as it is still vulnerable to many threats. An outbreak of contagious disease or a natural disaster could have drastic consequences for the species.
Male Asian lions measure 1.7 to 2.5 metres long and weigh 150kg to 250kg, while the females measure 1.4m to 1.75m in length, and weigh in at 120kg to 182kg.
The Asian lion’s tail averages around 70sm to 105cm long.
The new pride could begin growing immediately, as mating can take place all year round.
With a gestation period of less than 120 days, Fota could have its first litter of lion cubs early next year.
http://www.eveningecho.ie/cork-news/say-hello-gita-gira-asiatic-lions-arrive-wildlife-park/2250579/

Watch | Asiatic lions gather at watering hole

Watch | Asiatic lions gather at watering hole 

Please click on above link.

Demand to translocate Gir lions outside Gujarat picks up, finds "local support" following attack on villagers

Tuesday, May 31, 2016
By Our Representative

With Asiatic lions killing, in all, five persons outside the Gir National Park and Sanctuary area, the demand to translocate the big cat outside Gujarat is beginning to gain momentum. Veteran environmentalist Ravi Chellam, a top lions expert, has already fired the salvo saying this is an “urgent and necessary issue.”
Chellam, who took over as executive director of Greenpeace India following the controversial Government of India decision to withdraw its foreign donations permit in September last year, reportedly said, “The one big conservation action that has not been taken so far is to comply with the Supreme Court judgment regarding the translocation of lions”.
For years, the Gujarat government has made it a “prestige issue” in the Supreme Court, refusing to allow any translocation of the big cat to Madhya Pradesh, as contemplated by wildlife experts. It has argued how increase in its population means the lions are “comfortable” and “safe” in their existing environment.
Chellam says, “Lions have thrived in this region and their population has also increased. But the big problem is the protection of the habitat both within the sanctuary as well as in the surrounding landscapes.”
He insists, “Fairly rapid change in land-use and the construction of highways and other infrastructural projects, including fences and walls, are all fragmenting, degrading and destroying wildlife habitats.”
In a rare support, retired Gujarat forest official HS Singh, who has authored books on Gir lions, and is a member of the National Board for Wildlife, has said, “We’re sitting on a time bomb with such exponential growth of lions outside the protected areas, and this is spilling into the entire Saurashtra region.”
“The challenge is not just about developing new habitats for the lions complete with prey base and water points, which itself is a Herculean task, but also about managing the near impossible man-animal conflict which is already happening”, he declares.
Ironical though it may seem, those upholding the cause of the Gir lion as Gujarat's pride want villagers to kill the wild cat in “self-defence” – thus providing enough ammunition to those wishing to shift the Asiatic lion to Madhya Pradesh.
Ex-Gujarat agriculture minister Dileep Sanghani, known for his closeness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked the state government to provide arms to farmers residing on the periphery of the Gir lion sanctuary and allow them to kill lions in self-defence.
He recently shot a letter to state forest minister Mangubhai Patel saying that “attacks on cattle have been happening for long time, but when wild animals have become human eaters, the forest department should form a committee and make arms available to farmers with liberty to kill lions.”
This was preceded by dissident BJP legislator and Patidar agitation leader Nalin Kotadia delcaring against the proposed eco-sensitive zone in villages around Gir forest, advising villagers to kill lions – leading to angry BJP cadre reaction wanting to “uphold” the Gujarati pride, Asiatic lion.
Last December, when in two separate incidents took place on the same day, with lions attacking and killing two people outside their habitat in the Gir forest, the only abode of the Asiatic lion. Gujarat officials classified the incidents as “rarest of the rare.”
Following three more killings, between May 21 and 23, Gujarat forest officials “caged” 16 lions, who allegedly turned carnivorous. Yet, the attacks have not stopped. On May 28, a 30-year-old man was attacked and was rushed to hospital.
Thanks to a sharp increase in its numbers to 523 in 2015 from 411 in 2010, the Asiatic lion has expanded its fiefdom to a staggering 22,000 sq-km across eight of the nine districts in the sprawling Saurashtra region, as against the total area of 1,412 sq km of Gir Sanctuary, known as the Asiatic lion's only abode.
Of the 1,412 sq km, 258 km forms the core National Park, a no-man territory where only wildlife can reside. The 2015 census found just 22 lions in the “fully protected” Gir National Park – a detail which the Gujarat government has still not officially declared. The actual carrying capacity of the Gir National Park is 60 (click HERE).
The lion census also found that there was a very little rise in the number of Gir lions in the forest area (Sanctuary plus National Park) – from 297 in 2010 to 302 in 2015. It suggests, approximately 220 lions are prowling outside the forest area.
The Gir forest's actual carrying capacity, ironically, is just around 250, which means more lions are now prowling outside its designated area!
http://www.counterview.net/2016/05/demand-to-translocate-gir-lions-outside.html

Veteran of wildlife censuses

Himanshu Kaushik | TNN | May 30, 2016, 05.30 AM IST
Ahmedabad: Since 1984, be it the Leopard, Wild Ass, Asiatic Lion or the Bird Census, especially at Nalsarovar, one man, Uday Vora, the conservator of forest, has been a part of each wildlife census in Gujarat. Not a simple member of the coordinating team for the wilds, Vora has been providing training, and even crunching the numbers when it comes to finalising the count of wildlife.

Vora was also a part of the two day vulture census which ended recently. During the Leopard census which concluded last Monday, Vora was posted in Dang and Narmada districts. He has been associated with five Wild Ass Census, 12-odd bird censuses in Nalsarovar, six Asiatic lion censuses, and an equal number of leopard censuses.

"It all began in 1984 when the Union government ordered a big cat census and it was taken up in Kutch. Since then, I have never looked back. The year next, I got associated with the lion census which was conducted by giving live bait to the lions. This has changed now, and we resort to counting by pug marks and direct sighting method," said Vora.
Vora said during the wild ass census the workers used to come across very rare species, but not many volunteers were aware of those. But things have changed, and according to Vora, the volunteers who are part of the census, now, are aware of other species apart from the main one being counted.

Vora was also responsible for developing a method that increased accuracy in counting of birds. He said earlier, before 1992, a very high number of pelicans and flamingoes were reported in Nalsarovar, but after using the new method, that number fell drastically. Vora's method calculates the number of birds based on the area inhabited by them.

He has also taken part in Gosabara and other wetland censuses, said Vora, observing that eliminating overlapping is a mammoth task. In the Nalsarovar Bird Census one has to check over 8,000 entries to avoid overlapping, he said. It is easier to eliminate overlapping in case of big cats and mammals, said Vora, but one has to take extra precaution during the birds census, he opined.

For example, he said, one would know that a leopard can move up to 8km-12 km and a sloth bear only 3km-4km in a day. Hence errors can be removed by looking at footprints and photo timings.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Veteran-of-wildlife-censuses/articleshow/52496789.cms

4 held for entering Gir sanctuary without permission

Forest Department of Gujarat has proposed to initiate drone surveillance in the forest areas of the state including in the Gir National Park, the only habitat of Asiatic Lion in the world."They confessed their offence and therefore we showed some leniency and let them go after they paid the fine," said the RFO.

AT A TIME when Gir East division has witnessed lion attacks on human in recent months, four persons were caught for allegedly entering Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary without permission and fined Rs 12,500, forest officers said on Sunday.
“The incident took place on the evening of May 22. Four persons on their way from Jamwala to Shemardi stopped midway, parked their vehicle on the roadside and entered the forest area with a view to watch lions. But they were caught by our staff for illegally entering the sanctuary area. They were let off after they paid Rs12,500 fine,” range forest officer (RF)) of Dalkhaniya in Gir East division, Bharat Parmar said.

  The RFO said that the four men belonged to Rajkot and Nadiad in Kheda district. “They confessed their offence and therefore we showed some leniency and let them go after they paid the fine,” said Parmar.

Entering a sanctuary area can attract imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to Rs 25,000.
Gir forest and other protected areas are the only natural habitat of endangered Asiatic lions. Lakhs of tourists go on official lion safaris conducted in tourism zone of Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary from Sasan every year. But some try to enter the protected forest without premission to watch lions and get caught.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/gir-national-park-sanctuary-4-held-for-entering-trespass-without-permission-2824769/

Propagation of 4 species stopped in absence of mates

Anwar Hussain, Chittagong

The picture shows the lioness sitting in the Chittagong Zoo. The picture was taken on Thursday morning 
Photo- Rabin Chowdhury

Some mammals of Chittagong Zoo are passing their days in extreme loneliness as they have no mates in their cages.

Most of the lonely captive animals have already crossed half of their lifespan at the zoo which is now supervised by Chittagong district administration.
The lonely animals have been deprived from the company of their mates for a long time and consequently the reproduction of four species of animals, including two lionesses, two male bears, two female Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) and a male Gayal (Bos frontalis) is now at stake.
The lifespan of an Asiatic Lion is 15-18 years in captivity. The Two lionesses of the zoo ‘Nova’ and ‘Borsha’ who were born in June 16, 2005 have reached their adulthood.
Laxmi, mother of the duo died soon after giving birth while her spouse ‘Raj’ died in February 13, 2008.
Two male bears which were brought in from Khagrachhari and Gazipur have already become 13 years and 6 years old respectively. The average lifespan of an ‘Asiatic Black Bear’ species is 20 years.
On the other hand, the two female Sambar deer of the zoo are also pairlless. The average lifespan of a Samba deer is 20 years.
Besides, a large semi-domesticated bovine called Gayal has been passing its days without a spouse.
The zoologists warned that extreme loneliness and depression may shorten the lifespan of pair-less zoo animals.
“The zoo animals living without a spouse for a long time will naturally turn restless and quick-tempered. The natural agility is not seen in case of a spouse less captive animal. Eventually the lonely animals stop eating food,” Prof Dr Md Farid Ahsan of Chittagong University’s Zoology Department.
“We cannot discuss the problems of the zoo as the Zoo Executive Committee meeting is not held on a regular basis,” alleged Prof Dr Farid who is also a member of the zoo executive committee.
Venting anger over the poor animal collection of the zoo, the visitors said that the zoo would not be able to woo the visitors unless they collect animals like giraffe, elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus.
“My son has been insisting me on visiting zoo. My son was nagging me to show him Royal Bengal Tiger. To my surprise, Chittagong Zoo does not have any tiger. A zoo without a tiger has no lustre,” said Rounaque Jahan, a housewife has come to the zoo with his five-year old boy.
“Visitors particularly the children feel disappointed when they do not see any tiger after visiting the zoo. Although the zoo authorities erected two huge sculptures of elephant and giraffe to welcome the visitors at the main entrance, the giant mammals are not found inside the zoo,” said Rounaque.
“I feel utterly disappointed after visiting the zoo. Although the ticket price has been increased from Tk10 to Tk20, the zoo has no ostrich, elephant, tiger, elephant and hippopotamus,” said a visitor.
Dr Md Mongur Morshed Chowdhury, deputy curator of Chittagong Zoo informed that the last tigress of the zoo ‘Purnima’ died of intestine cancer in 2012 while her spouse ‘Chandra’ died a natural death in 2006.
“We have been making several attempts to increase diversity of the zoo. We have written letters to different zoos and safari parks of the country seeking tiger, lion and female deer,” said the deputy curator.
“At present there is no lioness in Rangpur Zoo. An exchange can easily take place between the two zoos for a lion and a lioness,” added the deputy curator.
Ruhul Amin, member secretary of Chittagong Zoo Executive Committee told the Dhaka Tribune that the procedures were going on for collecting spouses for the lonely mammals at the zoo.
“The zoo set up over a six-acre area of land does not have enough space to accommodate big animals like giraffe, elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus,” said Amin, adding that they undertaken a mammoth project for bringing about a radical change to the zoo.

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/may/28/propagation-4-species-stopped-absence-mates

Lion kills 70-year-old woman near Kodinar

TNN | May 27, 2016, 07.57 AM IST
RAJKOT: A 70-year-old woman died after being attacked by a lion in a farm in Vadnagar village, five km from Kodinar town in Gir-Somnath district, on Thursday.

The woman, Valay Lakhani, was working in the field when the lion attacked her at around 6pm. When locals rushed to her help on hearing her cries, the lion left her and fled.

Lakhani was rushed to a hospital in Kodinar but she died on the way. This is the fourth instance of Asiatic lions killing human beings in the last 68 days. The forest department has already caged a pride of 17 lions in Ambardi.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/rajkot/Lion-kills-70-year-old-woman-near-Kodinar/articleshow/52459398.cms