Asiatic lion population in India's Gir rises
Date: 22-May-01
Country: INDIA
The number of Asiatic lions in the dense 1,150 sq km sanctuary in the western state of Gujarat had dwindled to just 20 in 1930 due to hunting, poaching and loss of habitat, officials said.
Officials said the number increased after the government banned hunting in the 1930s and Gir was declared a protected sanctuary for Asiatic lions.
Some 700 wildlife experts and state forest officials used the "beat count method" of tracking pugmarks instead of the traditional practice of counting lions by using live buffalo calves to bait them.
"The opposition from animal right activists forced us to give up the bait method and instead track lions when they came out to ponds and watering holes," said a senior wildlife official.
