Friday 19 February 2010

'Sea Lions'!


Asiatic Lions once roamed all of Asia Minor and even Eastern Europe. Today, Gir National park, Gujarat, is the only place in the world where they are found. Once numerous, their numbers had gone down to just 13 in India (this figure has been a subject of controversy), thanks to hunting by the royal families in the 18th and the 19th centuries. Although the species is safe from the royal guns today, it faces grave peril from inbreeding (owing to its limited range), habitat loss and conflicts with humans. A lot has been talked about the relocation of a part of the 400+ population of Gir National Park to Kuno wildlife sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh, but the campaign remains suspended as Gujarat does not want to lose its status as the only state with Asiatic Lions. This majestic animal still remains torn between conservation efforts and political conflicts.

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This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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