Asiatic Lions being shifted to new home

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Rare Indian lions to move home for safety

 

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Indian forestry officials are to shift some of

the rare Asiatic lions living in a wildlife sanctuary credited with saving

the species from extinction to a new park to further safeguard their

numbers.

 

Officials say separating about 10 lions -- which are endemic to India and

found in the wild only in the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in western Gujarat

state -- will help protect the animals from floods, disease and poaching.

 

Pradeep Khanna, chief forest conservator, told Reuters that in the past year

at least seven lions had been killed by poachers or had drowned after heavy

rains within the sanctuary.

 

" Our priority is to keep lions safe. By moving a few of them out we are

trying to reduce the risk of overburdening the sanctuary. "

 

Their new home will be an earmarked area of protected land just outside the

sanctuary.

 

In the mid-20th century, India had less than 15 Asiatic lions -- which are

slightly smaller than their African cousins -- after they had been hunted to

the verge of extinction by royalty.

 

But a breeding programme launched in Gir in the 1960s has seen numbers

recover, and there are now an estimated 359 lions.

 

Officials say they are also aiming to curb the number of visitors to Gir as

growing interest in seeing the lions was disturbing wildlife.