Tensions raised over translocation plans for Asiatic lions

As the sun sets over the lush, sprawling forest in Gujarat where India’s only Asiatic lions live, they wander majestically through the wild, unaware of the conflict they are creating between Gujarat, the central government and other states that want to share in some of their success.

The sun sets and the clouds linger ponderously in the darkening sky above a forest settling for the night, the intense silence broken only by the choir of insects and the occasional grunt of one of over 400 lions that populate the immense sanctuary.

But a political storm rages.

For several decades, the state of Gujarat has spent much money and effort on redressing the immense damage done to the Asiatic lion population through over-hunting and the destruction of their natural habitat. The forest in Gir was declared a protected zone and a population of animals has been built up for the lions to prey on.

Over the years the critically endangered lions have seen a resurgence in their numbers, now at around 411 from just 20 in the mid-20^th century.

The Asiatic lions are an immense source of pride for Gujarat and India as a whole. Indeed they are iconic – on the Indian national emblem four lions are featured standing back to back in a circle (with the fourth lion unseen), and this same emblem is used on all Indian passports, on the national currency and is part of the official letterhead of the national government.

They are extremely important politically, symbolically, environmentally and emotionally.

“The lion is our king. It is our duty to see that its stomach is full,” said a 54-year-old women to a Washington Post correspondent. She is the matriarch of a small hamlet within the reserve and was speaking in relation to the lions feeding off their cattle.

She is part of the Maldharis, a vegetarian people that rear cattle. The lions are of foundational importance to them and instances of human-lion conflict are rare, even in the limited instances in which a villager has been attacked by a lion.

But the reserve, although immense, has become too small for the lions, or rather the lion population has become too large. Several prides have ventured out of the reserve along rivers and valleys and there have been reports of lions attacked by villagers outside the reserve in retaliation for the deaths of humans.

Although rare, these instances are concerning and may show a gradual intolerance building outside of the reserve, which will only increase if more lions venture beyond its bounds, which analysts say is inevitable if the population continues to grow.

In addition, the 400 lions that have been bred are all part of the same or similar gene pools, which makes in-breeding prevalent and increases the lions vulnerability to diseases that could wipe out the entire population, or a very large part of it.

This is why the central government wants to move some of the lion population. Over the last decade, $3 million has been spent preparing the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary for the lions, which involved moving thousands of people out of the area and introducing a prey base for the lions.

The state of Gujarat has adamantly refused, citing failures in the state of Madhya Pradesh, where the new sanctuary is located, to look after its tiger population. A deeper concern, however, is to do with the loss of pride which will be diminished for the state when it is no longer the only state in India with a Asiatic lion population.

The Supreme Court and just about every conservation group in the country has now become involved in the politics of the translocation of the lions.

Calls for the lions to be moved were stoked in May when India’s news provider, Calcutta News.net reported that the Gujarat government had ordered a probe into the mysterious deaths of 11 buck within the Gir forest sanctuary, with many raising concerns that the buck had died from poisoning as there was no exterior signs of injury.

If the deaths were due to poisoning, the effects could be passed up the food chain to the lions.

Gujarat has remained resolute though, refusing to give away even 5 of its lions for a breeding program in neighboring Madhya Pradesh.

The Supreme Court is in its final stages of deliberation on the issue. No matter what the outcome, it’s clear the issue of translocation of the Asiatic lions is not going to be put to rest anytime soon.