Western India: Endangered lion population soars

DW (English)

Conservation efforts have been so successful in the Indian state of Gujarat that numbers of endangered Asiatic lions are now almost out of control.

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00:00Chyutabai is actually a cattle herder by trade, but it's been weeks since he last brought

00:07his animals to pasture. He's too afraid, after a lioness attacked him while they were grazing.

00:15She grabbed me with her claws on my back and my thigh.

00:23We are in Saurashtra, a region in the heart of Gujarat in Western India. This is the last

00:29remaining habitat of Asiatic lions. For nearly 60 years, the lions have been living around

00:35Gir National Park on more than 1,400 sq km of land set up to protect them. During India's

00:43colonial era, the number of lions plummeted due to excessive hunting and poaching. Since

00:49then, the population has made a strong recovery. Experts estimate that there are now 900 Asiatic

00:55lions living in this area. Wildlife biologist Dr. Meena Venkataraman has been studying the

01:06animals here for more than 20 years. She estimates that around half of the population has long

01:11since spread beyond the boundaries of the national park.

01:15Here, what happens is, so you have a home range of two groups. When the space is less,

01:23they could slide over each other and there's a lot of overlap in the home range. Even that

01:30has happened and I recorded that during my study. And there is a point beyond which,

01:36you know, there is a need for lions to disperse out and find new territories.

01:44But the population in rural areas has also increased in recent years. That's led to a

01:49greater need for farmland. Villages are expanding. And even more lions from the national park

01:55also live in the area. A unique coexistence has developed between predators and people.

02:04We probably have three, four generations of lions that have, you know, lived or born in

02:09these so-called satellite habitats. Yes, they have adapted to that life. Their social, you

02:16know, the organization, their grouping patterns change and what their diet also depends on,

02:24you know, where they are and what is easily available. Probably more of livestock depredation,

02:31but yes, they have adapted.

02:34Local residents are learning to live alongside the lions. There is a sense of caution because

02:39in recent years, lions have repeatedly attacked people. Ramesh Chauhan is a social worker

02:46who studied the coexistence between people and lions for his doctoral thesis. He says

02:52that the lions were here first and so people must learn to live with them. He regularly

02:57visits villages and talks to residents about how to behave if they encounter a lion.

03:05If a farmer goes out to the fields and encounters a lion on the way, we tell them not to panic.

03:11Instead, they should just stand completely still and let the lions walk past peacefully.

03:16This is how we show respect to the animal and in turn gain its trust.

03:26We meet people in Gujarat's Amreli district near the coast. It's about 150 kilometers

03:31from Giru National Park. The lions have now reached as far as here. The first ones arrived

03:3710 years ago.

03:39The Shetrunji river flows through here and the lions are very active all along it. They

03:48live there. But there is hardly any human-animal conflict here. People live their lives as

03:53usual and the lions move around freely.

03:58For the lions, however, this coexistence is not without danger. Time and again the

04:03big cats are killed in train accidents or are injured on electric fences.

04:12In September 2024, the Ministry of Forestry proposes establishing eco-sensitive zones

04:18around the Giru National Park. The idea is to create a 10 km buffer zone functioning

04:23as a transition area for the animals with minimal human activity.

04:29A key problem is that the lions are finding less and less food. There is hardly any natural

04:34wild prey near residential areas, leaving only people's livestock and dogs. A risky

04:40development for the lions warns Ravi Chellam, one of the earliest researchers into the Asiatic

04:46lions of Giru.

04:48We are exposing the species to great risks. And this came to roost in 2018 when an outbreak

04:56of disease resulted in at least officially 40 or 60 lions dying in a matter of days.

05:02But my information is more than 100 lions died then and lions continue to die due to

05:08diseases. And with lions living outside being exposed to dogs, dead cattle and other carcasses,

05:14the chances of them catching diseases only increase. While lions might seem friendly,

05:20while lions might allow close approach, while lions in general don't attack people, this

05:27should in no way allow us to underestimate what a lion is. It is a wild, large cat. A

05:35big male can weigh 200 kilos plus. It has its teeth, it has its claws, it can put it

05:42to use.

05:44The scientists' research findings were enough to convince the Indian Supreme Court

05:48in 2013 to order the state of Gujarat to relocate some lions in an attempt to protect the species

05:54in the long run. However, the relocation has not yet happened and in the meantime, humans

06:00and lions are learning to share a habitat.

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