Gujarat Forest Minister Confirms Death Of Four Lions, 210 Nilgais

27 June, Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Government has confirmed that four Asiatic lions have succumbed to heavy monsoon rain in the past three days in the Gir forests. Besides these, the government also confirmed the deaths of 210 Nilgais, two eagles and other animals due to heavy rains.

Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel Saturday said that in search operations conducted after the rains, bodies of only four lions were recovered.

Chief WildlifeConservator A P Singh said that out of these four, two are males and two females. Two bodies were found in Palitana of Bhavnagar district near a dam on the river Shetrunji and the other two were found in Amreli district. Post-mortems are being conducted on the recovered bodies.

Singh added that apart from these, bodies of 60 nilgais in Amreli and 150 in Bhavnagar have also been recovered.

As per the census, in May in about 1400 sq km of Gir forest and in nearby areas the number of lions have increased from 411 in 2010 to 527 in 2015.The incessant rainfall since past twenty four hours has created havoc for the wildlife here and has claimed eighty human lives too.

Meanwhile, unconfirmed sources said so far bodies of six lions have been found. One more lion body was recovered from Pingli village today and two bodies were found from Palitana.

Sources also claimed that so far bodies of three lions have been found in Amerli district. The bodies of two lions were found from Liliya’s Borigadha Vidi village near the river Gagdio Friday ,out of which one was male of around five years and other was female of around three years.

Gir forests have been closed for the tourists for the moment. It is kept closed for four months during monsoon every year.