adminHuman prosperity at the cost of animal and plant life it seems has become something that we have started to take for granted. Everyday somebody somewhere around the globe is protesting against protecting some dying species, some NGO is fighting to save the Dolphins from being man-slaughtered in Japan, another is liaising with some government on the other side of the planet to stop the cutting forests as some apparently insignificant animal might be taking its last breath in pollution choked air. AND? What difference does it make to us? Because we get our pay-checks every month, oh and we will take a loan to get a new car, plan a 20 year mortgage and by the time we are 65 we will have a good house, a garden to take care of, some money saved on the side. Sure life seems wonderful. Doesn’t it?
Life may seem wonderful but sadly we fail to see the bigger picture and what effect our reckless over consumption and our demanding lifestyle is having all around us.
The statistics are shocking, as apparently one species goes extinct every 15 seconds due to habitat destruction. Although, some may argue that this may just be the natural course of nature. But it cannot be denied that the rapid development and expansion of human civilisation has catalysed the normal forces of nature, which has started showing its effect on the world all around us. The fact that the population of the planet a 100 years ago was around 1.6 Billion and in 2011 it stands at 6.9 Billion is shocking.
So here I was standing, looking eye to eye with this magnificent Lioness giving me back this ignored look as if to say “OK, I know you are here. But you can stay as I know that this is not just my forest but OUR forest, so we can co-exist”. And as I stood there overwhelmed by the moment, the lioness licked its 3 months old baby, just 3 metres in front of me. I felt the baby giving me this innocent daze as if asking me “What did I do that you have almost brought my family to an end?” and all could do was stand in silence and feel the guilt down to my gut in this face-off between me, representing mankind and the Lions. I feel it’s high time we take responsibility of being the dominant ‘intelligent’ species on the planet and understand the word ‘co-existence’ before it’s too late.
Only 410 Asiatic Lions survive today in the wild as per the 2010 count and all of them can be found in a small reserve called the Gir National Park in Gujarat, Western India. The Asiatic Lions are a different species as compared to the famous African lions, which can be found in a few thousands in Africa. The Asiatic Lions are smaller in size and have a large hanging fold of skin under their belly, the male Lions have a smaller mane and these Lions form smaller packs and have different social structures compared to their larger cousins- the African Lions.
About a 100 years ago these Lions were almost extinct and only a handful remained. But due to the efforts of the local King, the Nawab of Junagarh who realised the seriousness of the situation, adequate measures were take to stop hunting of these Lions in his territory. And the numbers of Lions have gradually increased since. However, as the human population continues to grow, the Lions are painfully being stretched to venture into what we call ‘human’ territory risking their own lives and posing a threat to the neighbouring human population, resulting in them being poisoned and killed. Furthermore, the Lions still face a threat from illegal poaching for their bones which are in great demand in China for traditional medicine.
These Lions also have to share the forest with the nomadic tribe, the Maldharis who have lived in small hutments called Nesses inside the forest for many centuries. The Local Government has put in a lot of effort in the conservation of the Lions and in order to give the Lions more space, have tried to relocate the Maldharis outside the park by offering land and financial incentives. The Local Government also financially compensates the farmers in the area if their cattle is killed by the Lions. These efforts over the years has resulted in an increase in the Lion count at the reserve. However, the Gir National Park is gradually becoming too small to accommodate all its Lions. It is believed that although the boundaries of the Gir National Park is around 1400 sq. kms but the Lions can be found in a radius of over 2200 sq. kms. The only viable solution to this problem is to relocate and reintroduce the Lions in another reserve within India, but this idea has been challenged by the Local Government due to the exclusivity of Lions in the state of Gujarat has and the whole issue it seems is a bit of a political mess.
The written account on the Asiatic Lions is very limited, but from what does exist ironically most of it is from the British who were very fond of big game hunting of Lions and Tigers during their time in India. According to one William Rice, from his account from 1884, “on one occasion we skinned a Lion in the jungle and carried the skin home to a small tent, about midnight a lioness was heard quite close mourning all night long in a most sorrowful manner; this noise was at times changed for a low angry roar…several shots were fired in the air, but she still remained mourning and roaring. In the morning when it was enough light this lioness was followed up by its prints, and then we found she had taken in coming to the tent, the very path by which the skin had been brought home over night, and could see where at times she had stopped where drops of blood had fallen by the way…but this not save her own skin, for she was soon found and shot…we were glad to get rid of such enemies”!
According to a recent genetic study, all the 410 Asiatic Lions at Gir descend from only 12 individuals making them genetically very fragile. And also since all the lions are located within one small area, the possible threat of them being wiped out in a matter of days due to disease or natural calamities like drought or earthquakes is too high. In fact in 2001 a massive earthquake had hit only a few hundred kilometres from the area killing over 20,000 people.
Out of the all the Big Cats that once roamed India, the Asiatic Cheetah is already extinct, the Tiger is dangerously threatened, the Leopard is constantly fighting for it’s survival and the Snow Leopard has become extremely rare; and you can see that the Lion population too is very limited.
I spent a week in the Gir National Park in the middle of May 2011. Getting to Gir was a challenge as I had to first take a one and a half hour flight from New Delhi to Ahmedabad, then an eight hour night train to Verawal, followed by an hour and a half in an auto-rickshaw and then since the rickshaw could not go for the last 2 kms into the country roads, I had to hitch hike on a motorbike to the farm where I stayed.
I did 2 trips inside the jungle every day for 5 days, one early morning at sunrise and the other in the afternoon and on one occasion did a third trip the same day as a news came of a sighting of Lioness with babies inside the forest. Additionally for an afternoon I went to the Devaliya Reserve to see male Lions who had in fact attacked humans and were kept separately.
I have been invited for the next Lion census and I sincerely hope when I am back in 4 years, if not earlier, the 3 months old baby Lioness that I saw this year turns into a big healthy mature Lioness having it’s own multiple litters as well as hopefully see some improvement in the overall habitat of this glorious creature.
In addition to the lions I saw other wildlife too, including Leopards, Jackals, Nilgai, Chinkara, Sambar, Wild Boars, Marsh Crocodiles as well as many species of birds.
I would like to acknowledge the help of Chaman Bhai and Mansukh Bhai who have always opened their house to accommodate us and their family for making me feel at home each time, particularly by serving the most delicious food ever cooked over a wooden fire. Also big thank you to my our guides, trackers and drivers – particularly, Salim Bhai, Kasim Bhai, Jeetu Bhai and Dinesh Bhai.
An excellent source of information on the Asiatic lions is the book ‘The Lions of India‘ by Divyabhanusinh. It is a collection of extracts from various writings on the Asiatic Lions over the last 150 years. In 2006 BBC made a documentary film called ‘The Last Lions of India‘ plus the June 2002 issue of the National Geographic Magazine has a small photo feature on these Lions.
.
