Gir lions on the verge of extinction

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Impact: Govt to look into lion killings

A day after CNN-IBN reported that Asiatic lions were on the verge of extinction, Environment Minister has said he will take action.

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Keywords: Special Investigation, Kuno

If anything does go wrong here, India's tiny lion population will vanish forever.

Documents found during our Special Investigation identify several factors that put the lion at great risk in Gir.

Here is CNN-IBN's 'post-mortem' report.

• Uncovered wells are death traps for the lion. Documents are littered with reports of lions claimed by these wells.

• The Kankaiya temple in the Gir reserve is visited by 2,00,000 pilgrims every year. They arrive in over 20,000 vehicles, which can be potentially disastrous for the lion's fragile habitat.

• A railway line and five state highways crisscross the Gir Forest Reserve. In the last decade 12 lions have been run over by speeding trains and vehicles.

The railway line that passes through nearly 14 kilometers of the Gir National Park has proved to be a death sentence for many wild inhabitants of the sanctuary.

In fact at many blind curves, there have been instances when lions have been crushed by speeding trains.

Conservationists are concerned about the fact that Gir lions are confined to such a small space.

According to wildlife scientists, the lion to avoid being wiped out must have a minimum viable population of at least 500. This would avoid inbreeding and reduce the risk of disease.

The lions of Gir are already at a dangerously low 300 mark, well below a viable population.

Ravi Chellam, wildlife scientist and the first person to suggest that Gir lions be translocated to Madhya Pradesh says, "All Asiatic lions are in cramped into one place and if something happens here they could be in serious trouble."

The Government must act soon or else the epitaph of the lion may well read, Here lies the King of the Jungle; he beat the Tiger in the race to extinction.