GIR Lions~ A journey from paradise to hell

The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (also known as Sasan Gir) is believed to be the last residence for last 400 Asiatic Lions over this earth. Gir proved not only just a home to these majestic Lions, but as a paradise to them. Had it been the terrain, vegetation, climate, or medical care, Gir always stood the best for them. It's not only the Gujrat Govt, but even the people of Gujrat has shown much affection towards these Lions. To people of Gujrat, Gir Lions are like members of their family. Gir has always stood the best fighting poaching, hence the Lions there feel themselves safe from cruel hands.


However, the decision for translocation of Gir Lions to Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (MP) has been thrown over everyone and precisely the animals there in. The decision slapped down not only Gurat Govt but also all the Wildlife lovers and conservationists. While Indian Govt. claims this plan to be the most needful and call of the hour which would offer the Gir Lions more space to expand their prides, on the other hand paved the path for the wild Lions to end up in hell i.e. Zoo. While the whole world is protesting against captivating wild animals, we Indians are denoting this act as beneficial? India has history to captive their kings, and that is what happening today.. The saying is well proved that "history repeats itself.."


WII (Wildlife Institute of India) recommendation

WII report clearly mentions that "Genetic consideration would not be a major factor, provided fresh male lions are moved from Gir to Kuno every three to five years and the resident males in Kuno selectively captured for Zoos."

Last life treat

Are we ready to see our majestic wild Lions like this? So basically we are planning for the wild Lions to move from the paradise to hell, and we have no regrets for the same. Surprisingly, the suggestion came from the Wildlife Institute of India. Is the translocation so important that we are ready to sacrifice the wild cats to zoo in their last life? Do our Lions deserve such treatment after fighting for their life in wild? Ask yourself and you'll find what to say..


~ Black Pearl

India will make Lions jump over trees

I am pretty sure, India want to see Lions chasing Langurs over trees. Well, before discussing anything further, I would like to place some facts about the prey list and hunting procedures of the majestic beast "Lions" which will in turn brief you some more facts about Lion and prey behavior. If you google about the prey list of Lions, hopefully you would find many listing them, but what's new here is we would discuss them in depth. Prey list of Lions totally depend as how they hunt, and hunting procedures are again related to the prey density where they survive.

Africa (Tanzania, Botswana, Mara etc.) offers too widely stretched land (rocky mountain, savannah, grassland, desert, dense forest). But Lions do live in some very specific places. To know where Lions live, click here. However Lions always choose to live where there is plenty of prey (which they prefer to have). 

 African & Asiatic Lions' hunt

Lions (males) do prefer to rest a lot and not to waste more energy on chasing preys, since they know that Lionesses of his/ their pride have to bring eatables for their cubs. Accordingly, Lionesses too know that Lions won't participate in hunting so they tend to bring a lot of food which can satisfy them, the cubs and more precisely, the pride owners (Lions) obviously in return of protection by them from other males. In order to bring back so much of food, Lionesses hunt in groups (group may vary from 2-10) to bring down big animals such as Zebra, Buffaloes, Wild beasts, Warthogs, Nilgai etc. However, they can also bring down huge animals such as Giraffes, Elephants, Rhinos, Hippos etc while in scarcity of prey, as there's a famous saying in Hindi "Marta kya naa karta" (When it's up to ones life, one may do anything to survive). This need turned them social, as hunting alone can only bring down small preys such as Antelopes, Wild boars, Rabbits, Sambhar, Chital etc. It's not that they don't hunt these small preys in groups, but the group size is directly proportional to the prey to bring down. Having said this, usually African Lion prides consists 5-20 members (including their cubs) while Asiatic prides usually holds 3-10 in a pride. This directly makes us understand their prey type. Now since we are known of the prey type of Lions in different regions, it's time to know which are the preys which Lions chase the most and why.

Asiatic Lions hence targets primarily on few animals such as Chitals, Sambhars, Wild pigs. However, they also don't hesitate in scavenging preys, brought down by other predators/ big cats, or naturally dead, which may include anything.



Asiatic Lions' choice

Asiatic Lions precisely chase Chitals and Sambhars. Reason behind this is, in India, Chitals (or spotted deers) and Sambhars are abundant so can be found easily. However, as per Chitals and Sambhars behavior, they do prefer to roam in and around big thick trees (which is often not a lovable place for Lions) for reasons. Reason being Monkeys and Langurs. Monleys and Langurs often drop leaves from trees which make easy food for the Cheetals (lazy lads), and also the Langurs make alarm calls as soon as they see any predator near to them. So catching Chitals and Sambhars has never been an eazy job for the Lions in such locations.

The only exception, when Lions can chase down Chitals is when they roam in open savannah or grassland (which happens very often), come in group for quenching their thirst (often at early morning, afternoon or early night), or while grazing at night (when they loose their areal eyes i.e. Langurs). Big cats do have a very good night vision as compared to Chitals/ Sambhars. Other reason for which Lions avoid hunting in dense forests is due to their bulky body, they can't chase zig zag too much (being trees the main hurdles) while Chitals/ Sambhars are pretty expert in that, hence, they prefer to get down the prey while chasing them in open (along with a strong group attack strategy/ planning). Despite of so much trouble Asiatic Lions prefer these both because once they get hold of them, just with a single hard bite of canine can damage their spine or choke their breath to bring them down, while they have to fight a lot for Wild boars, Neelgais etc.  Therefore, Asiatic Lions avoid chasing big bodies. It's found that 20% approx food for Asiatic Lions is contributed by cattle from the nearby/ adjacent villages of Gir forest, which is again an easy prey for the beasts which they can't miss. Given the chance, and if the Lion is injured/ old, they may also raise the percentage from 20% to 50% or even more, so we should always consider easy prey in the prey list of any big cat.  



Lion hunting Langurs?

When I came to know that Wildlife experts of Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary included "Langurs" while making a list of prime prey density for Lions, just in order to increase the figures to make their debate stronger. However, a biologist is expected to know all the above facts even more deeply than it's mentioned above. A Langur should always be considered as a spoil sport for any big cat. In fact Lanhurs can also force Lions to starve for days alarming the deers which Lions do chase for. There is no possibility for a Lion to chase a Langur (I mean come on.. this is just as driving my car from earth to moon..). Yes, you might have seen a Lion having feast on Langur, but that is only when they scavenge it from Leopards/ Hyenas (who may likely killed it) or may have hunted an injured Langur (over land, not on trees). There have been incidents, when Lions killed Langurs while they were quenching their thirst (that too if the Langur was not alert at all, which happens once in a blue moon, or couldn't run back that fast). Except mentioned I don't think there must be any possibility when a Lion can have feast on Langur, and that doesn't gives liberty to claim Langur as Lions prime prey. Below listed is the prey base chart which was provided.      

Species                Population Density/Sq.km.± Standard Error
Chital                                               51.59           ±         8.84
Sambhar                                        3.59              ±         1.01
Nilgai                                               2.32              ±         0.59
Wild Pig                                         4.68              ±         1.54
Chinkara                                        0.99              ±         0.35
Langur                                          17.2              ±         4.6
Peafowl                                          6.44              ±         2.34
Feral Cattle                                   1.83              ±         0.77
  

If Indian biologists are including Langurs as Lions "MAIN PREY LIST", hopefully we would be soon seeing Asiatic Lions jumping over the trees of Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, again, which would be an unbelievable sighting which may fail all rules of Nature. So, be prepared to experience the thrill soon.
 

About Lion rehabilitation to Kuno Palpur

Per the Chief Wildlife Warden, Gujarat

a) That Kuno Palpur has a population of 6 to 8 tigers and coexistence of large cats of almost equal size was unlikely.

b) That Lions world over are known to prefer grasslands in sub-topical to near sub-tropical climates with normal temperature during hot period below 42 degree C. (approx) while Kuno is known to have hot climate during summer with temperature exceeding 45 degree C. for a number of days.

c) The prey base at Kuno is also not adequate enough for the lions.

d) Lions are increasing in number and geographical distribution in vicinity of Gir in Amreli & Bhavnagar districts. This is a natural increase in home range of lions, which is well received by local population. Besides, Gir National Park and Gir-Paniya-Mithiyal Sanctuary and Devalia Interpretation Park, lions have made home in Girnar, grasslands of Savarkundla, Palitana and Mahuva hills and in the coastal region of Jafrabad and Rajula in Amreli districts, Mahuva and Palitana talukas of Bhavnagar district.

e) The Barda Sanctuary area is being effectively prepared as home for lion with vegetation having improved while spotted deer are introduced.

f) The natural expansion of home range being the effective way of establishing natural Meta population that infrequently interact among populations located at different places in Gir region. Thus effectively isolated populations which may still received genetic inputs from the base populations are establishing, providing efficient method of conservation.

g) During the year 2007-2008, Government of Gujarat has launched a special programme for conservation of lion with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat announcing a five year action plan package of Rs.40 crore for lion conservation which includes increase in protection force, habitat management, raising awareness to enlist people’s participation etc.

Reference: WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 337 OF 1995 JUDGEMENT by Hon. SC.
Image courtesy: layoutsparks.com | Edits: ßlåçk Pærl 

TOI : Madhya Pradesh unsuitable for big cats: Study

TNN Jun 25, 2013, 02.49AM IST

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-25/flora-fauna/40184824_1_two-tigers-madhya-pradesh-palpur-kuno

AHMEDABAD: Madhya Pradesh is a major poaching ground with a strong gun culture. This was the finding of Empower Foundation, a Mumbai based NGO working on Sanjay Gandhi National Park's man-animal conflict.

The NGO in its report submitted to the forest department has stated that lions should not be translocated to Kuno as Madhya Pradesh is known to be a major poaching ground and the state has lost 453 tigers out of 710 (63% loss) in a decade. The state as per the 2011 census has only 257 tigers. The loss of tiger in Madhya Pradesh was 50 per cent of the total loss of the tigers across the world.

Jalpesh Mehta has claimed that between 2000 and 2010, about 1079 tigers have died across the globe and of these 453 were in Madhya Pradesh itself.

It was also pointed out that Sariska and Panna have recently lost all their tigers. The two sanctuaries had 28 and 25 tigers respectively and Palpur Kuno had only two tigers. Once upon a time, Kuno used to have 25 tigers.

Sheopur district has 4800 fire arm licenses for a population of six lakh and the sanctuary area was once a hub of dacoits from Chambal. As these are licensed guns, one cannot estimate the illegal fire arms present in the area. Also the state has an adjoining sensitive location - situated on the border of three states namely Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Geographically, Mehta said that the hilly terrain of Kuno-Palpur forest with very little water sources unlike Gir region will also not support translocation.

The government of Madhya Pradesh has declared Sheopur as a drought-prone area and district affected by natural calamity. These conditions are unfavourable for lion translocation.

Further, he added that tigers and bears live in Kuno-Palpur and this would lead to in-fighting and territorial wars among the wild animals, further increasing the chances of man-animal conflict.

TOI : Threat to conservation: Lion bone trade on rise

TNN Jun 25, 2013, 06.44AM IST

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-25/flora-fauna/40184311_1_lion-skeleton-lion-bones-lion-conservation

AHMEDABAD: The international market value of lion bones range between $ 300 and $ 500 for every kilogram. The bones are used in China for traditional Chinese medicines. Lion bones are being used as substitutes for tiger bone potions, finds Empower Foundation, a Mumbai based NGO working on Sanjay Gandhi National Park's man-animal conflict.

In 2007, eight lions were killed in Gir by poachers from MP. Investigations carried out by CID (Crime) officials had concluded with the arrest of several poachers including Sarkas Lal, leader of this poachers' gang

In that case too, CID officials had concluded that the lion bones were passed off as tiger bones and were smuggled to China for "medicinal purposes."

The report submitted to the government stated that South Africa has been supplying a considerable volume of lion bones to mainly Laos, Vietnam and China. A warning against such trade has been issued by LionAid, an organisation which is into lion conservation. LionAid has warned that such trade could well stimulate a demand that would increasingly involve poaching of lions.

The South African trade involves lion breeders, canned lion hunters and taxidermists. The value of a lion skeleton could therefore be in excess of $10,000. "In China, lion bones are soaked for a variable period in rice wine, whereas in Laos and Vietnam, the bones are made into a paste with added ingredients like herbs. The paste is then dissolved in rice wine. Such bone tonics are used to treat a variety of ailments. Bones from wild lions are considered more efficacious than those bred in captivity. In South Africa, Vietnamese and Thai nationals have been arrested at O R Tambo International Airport with illegal lion bones in their luggage, but levels of the illegal trade are considered much higher than such occasional seizures suggest.

The report stated that lion carcasses should now be treated with the same degree of suspicion. As per LionAid, in India, all carcasses of tigers are considered poaching incidents and same treatment has to be given to lion carcasses.

DNA : Shifting Gir lions will bring disaster: Experts

Tuesday, Jun 25, 2013, 10:35 IST | Place: Ahmedabad | Agency: DNA

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1852708/report-shifting-gir-lions-will-bring-disaster-experts

The issue of translocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir sanctuary to Madhya Pradesh has hit another wall — this time that of an NGO. The social organisation has opposed the move on various grounds, including the fact that most of earlier translocation attempts carried out in independent India had failed, often endangering the animals.

The NGO’s analysis of the arguments, on which the translocation of lions was finally allowed, shows that several factors relating to shifting the big cat were either not considered or ignored while allowing the translocation.

The NGO, Empower Foundation’s analysis titled — ‘Failure of the proposed lion translocation to Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh’ —  also found that the government has not strongly positioned the fact that the lion habitat in Gujarat goes much beyond Gir.

Jalpesh Mehta and his team who carried out the analysis said the argument regarding an epidemic killing the entire populace of lion does not hold true as the lions are not concentrated in Gir alone, but have dispersed far and wide.

“If an epidemic can kill all the lions, the same thing can happen to all the tigers in the MP-Rajasthan-Maharashtra belt and Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu belt as the distance in these areas is more or less similar between Gir and other areas where lions are found,” said Mehta.

The NGO  also talks of the stress suffered by animals during capture and transfer to new locations apart from citing several cases of failed translocations particularly those concerning carnivores.  

The NGO argues that there is no history of any major successful translocation in India. The study mentions 10 cases of failed translocations of elephants, gaurs, leopards, rhinos, African and Asiatic Lions (from Gir to Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary in UP in 1956), which show only 16% success rate in a study of 119 cases of translocated animals. In the rest of the cases, the animals returned causing major conflicts, dying or being killed by locals due to severe man-animal conflicts.

DNA : Lion translocation : NGO sites 10 failures in the past !

Ahmedabad: The issue of translocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir sanctuary to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno-Palpur has hit another wall — this time that of an NGO. The social organisation opposes the move on various grounds, including the fact that most of earlier translocation attempts carried out in Independent India ended in failures, often endangering the animal itself.

 

The NGO’s analysis of the arguments, on which the translocation of lions was finally allowed, shows that several factors relating to shifting the big cat was either not considered or ignored while allowing for the translocation.

 

NGO, Empower Foundation’s analysis titled, ‘Failure of the proposed lion translocation to Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh’ also found that the government has not rightly and strongly positioned the fact that the lion habitat in Gujarat goes much beyond Gir.

 

The analysis argues that there is no history of any major successful translocation in India. The study mentions 10 case of failed translocations covering elephants, gaurs, leopards, rhinos, African and Asiatic Lions (from Gir to Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh in 1956), which show only 16% success rate in a study of 119 cases of translocated animals. In the rest of the cases, the animals returned causing major conflicts, dying or being killed by locals due to severe man-animal conflicts. Mehta said that even in case of captured leopards, they were released in areas similar to their earlier homes, but it was observed that the animals found their way to their original habitat.

 

Jalpesh Mehta and his team who carried out the analysis opine that the argument regarding an epidemic killing the entire populace of lion does not hold true as the lions are not concentrated in Gir alone, but have dispersed far and wide.“If an epidemic can kill all the lions, the same thing can happen to all the tigers in the MP-Rajasthan-Maharashtra belt and Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu belt as the distance in these areas is more or less similar to that between Gir and other areas where the lions are spread,” said Mehta.

 

The analysis also talks of the stress suffered by animals during capture and transfer to new locations apart from citing various cases of failed translocations particularly those concerning carnivores. It also mentions other problems associated with releasing an animal into a new location including predation, starvation and movement away from the actual release site. 

 

“There was some success in translocation of rhinos in Assam. But then the one-horned rhinos are herbivores,” Mehta explained.

 

Apart from the above points the analysis has also made references to MP’s high incidence of poaching and Kuno-Palpur’s drought-prone status. 

 

The NGO has already sent a copy of the analysis to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and the state forest department too.