Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
[3] The distribution of Asiatic lion, once found widely in West and South Asia, dwindled to a single population in the Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in India.
Asiatic lion prides require large territories but there is limited space at Gir wildlife sanctuary, which is boxed in on all sides by heavy human habitation.
The lions are now spread over 16,000 square kilometres (6,200 sq mi) in the vicinity of 1050 villages in four contiguous districts - Amreli, Gir Somnath, Bhavnagar and Junagadh.
In 1956 one lion and two lionesses were captured from Gir, placed in the Sakkarbuagh Zoo in Junagadh for nine months and then translocated in 1957 to the 96 square kilometres (37 sq mi) Chandra Prabha Sanctuary, near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and newly established for the reintroduction.
Johnsingh (2006) attributes the failure of the translocation to three causes – inadequate area, lack of systematic monitoring using scientific techniques and unrestricted movement of grazing animals throughout the sanctuary possibly leading to conflict with herders.
[2] Small size of area, the long period of captivity in Junagadh zoo, absence of education of the local villagers and lack of conflict resolution mechanisms are also listed as contributory factors in Chellam and Johnsingh (1999).
[9] In 1990, the WII proposed the creation of a second wild population of Asiatic lions to safeguard the species against potential calamities in Gujarat's Gir National Park.
[14] The six new potential sites are:[14] In 1993, a workshop was held on the Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) of Asiatic lion and the report was presented to the state forest departments in Vadodara, Gujarat.
This should be done simultaneously with strengthening effective protection and management of the Gir Forest and assuring the viability of the captive population and alternative genetic resources.The PHVA deliberations were followed by visits to the three most promising site, viz Kuno, Darrah-Jawaharsagar and Sitamata WLS by a survey team of WII headed by Dr Ravi Chellam.
[16] The framework of the Lion Introduction Project emerged from the transformation of a Monitoring Committee, set up by the Government of India, which met on 10 March 2004 for effective implementation of the reintroduction at Kuno.
[17] The Madhya Pradesh state forest department notified 345 square kilometres (133 sq mi) of the Kuno Palpur area as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1981.
[19][20] The negative economic impact of the displacement to villagers from Kuno sanctuary has raised a controversy over the merits of species preservation via dislocation of human populations living inside Protected Areas.
We will ensure their survival here.As early as 2009, the continued opposition of the Gujarat state government led to the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department's exploration of the possibility of procuring zoo-bred Asiatic lions and shifting them and their descendants to Palpur-Kuno.
The Indian Supreme Court fast-tracked the case and delivered a judgement on 16 April 2013 permitting the reintroduction of lions to Kuno, over-ruling the objections of the Gujarat Government.
[31] Post the verdict, fears have been voiced by Gujarati environmentalists over the gun culture of Madhya Pradesh and number of firearms in Sheopur, the region where the Kuno Palpur sanctuary is located and it is suggested that translocation to such an area would be in violation of IUCN norms on the subject.
The Gujarat government's curative petition against relocation of the wild Asiatic lions from the Gir Forest to Madhya Pradesh was dismissed by the Supreme Court on 14 August 2014.
[39] In compliance with the Supreme Court order of 15 April 2013, the Ministry of Environment and Forests has constituted a panel for deciding the best course of action in translocation of animals to Gir.
[43] In a reversal of position, the Ministry of Environment and Forests decided in a meeting in June 2015 against translocation at present on the grounds that it would be detrimental to the breeding and survival of the lions as they lived in social prides.
