Narendra Modi Interview – About Asiatic Lions Census Method at Sasan Gir National Park

Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modisaid the world should notice the scientific approach used in the lion census by Gujarat State this time. "Institutes should conduct a scientific study of this method and get it replicated in other wildlife censuses too," he added.

He said that, earlier, the census was carried out in a rather arbitrary manner, seeking input from passers-by about lion sightings and estimating their population on the basis of attacks made on other animals. But this time, the method used was technologically very robust.

According to the information given by the department, the special features of the latest census were the use of GIS, GPS and wireless technologies for effective coordination. Proper documentation was done for each observation. Through direct sighting, the animals were identified by distinct body-marks.

Each team involved in the census was to record these body-marks and other details such as time of the sighting, to and fro directional movement, etc, on a form prepared by the forest department. Digital pictures were also taken for the records.

Summer is the best time to conduct this exercise as the number of water resources gets restricted. Lions and other wild animals need to drink at least once in 24 hours. This makes it comparatively easy to decide the places in the jungle where the animals could collect.

The available water sources and probable places where the lions could visit were surveyed during the forest department's nine-month-long pre-census exercise.

"Long ranging animals like lions are not confined to man-made ecological boundaries. Keeping this in mind, a beat was decided as the smallest geographical unit inside the Gir protected area and a village was taken as the smallest unit outside Gir Jungle," chief wildlife warden RV Asari said.

The exercise to record the numbers and movement of the lions had begun nine months back. Based on the observations made during this period, 641 probable sites were identified where the chances of finding the lions were the highest. Also, data of the hunts of the last 10 years were analyzed. Gir National Park and the adjoining areas were divided into seven regions, 28 zones, and 100 sub-zones for the census.

At the last count, 135 officers, 450 enumerators, 900 assistants, 134 volunteers, 49 photographers, 13 doctors and 12 researchers were part of the census team.

Sasan Gir National Park News - Asiatic Lion Census Completed

The four-day exercise to count the number of Asiatic Lions at its only abode in the Gir Forest in Junagadh District Saurashtra region of Gujarat concluded.

Officials engaged in the census, refused to be drawn into the number game till all reports were cross-checked and tabulations completed, but preliminary information indicate a steady rise in the lion population in “Greater Gir,” including areas outside the Gir National Park where lions have strayed into lately.

Forest department sources said the lion population could have increased to 390 to 400 despite incidents of poaching and natural deaths during the last five years. In the last census, held in 2005, the count was put at 359 (plus minus 10).

The final result is expected to be announced on the Gujarat Foundation Day at 1st May - 2010.

Asiatic Lions Population Sasan Gir Jungle Junagadh District Gujarat India

The suspense that has built up over the last five years over the lion population in Sasan Gir Jungle will end within 72 hours of April 24, when the scheduled Asiatic Lions census in the region begins. But the exact number by which the population of the Asiatic Lions in Gir Wildlife Forest has risen will be known only on May 1, when Gujarat turns 50 as an independent state.

The census will be carried out by a team of 1,300 volunteers who will be joined by senior state foresters and big cat experts drawn from all over the country. Spotting the lion king was never easy but foresters are hoping that technology will come to their aid this time.

This is the first time that the lion census is being conducted on such a massive scale over a large area and much more scientifically than in previous years. The laborers, forest staff and volunteers involved in the census will fan out over 300 beats carved out of a 5,000 sq km area called the Greater Gir.

Seven regions were identified; these were then divided into zones, sub-zones and beats. This is also the first time that the ‘Greater Gir’ region which includes areas in – Amreli Districts, Junagadh Districts, Bhavnagar Districts and Porbandar Districts- is to be covered for the census. Earlier, it was restricted to the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary spread over an area of 1,412 sq km.

The inclusion of other areas for the census is a restrained admission by the establishment that the lion habitat has now expanded much beyond the sanctuary area. The majestic beast is now steadily reclaiming its traditional corridor all the way from Porbandar to Bhavnagar.

The last lion census of 2005, which stated that the lion population in the Gir sanctuary was 359, was conducted by identification of pug marks. This time the methodology of ‘direct sighting’ will be used. Under this method, specific body marks will be identified and uploaded into the GPS device carried by each team. This data will be available to all other teams simultaneously.

“It will reduce redundancies to a great extent, but not completely,” said principal chief conservator of forests, Pradip Khanna. Ironically, it might be relatively easier to enumerate the lion king in summer as they tend to hover close to the water holes because of the heat.

Asiatic Lions India – Sasan Gir National Park Wildlife News Junagadh Gujarat

The tiger population is diminishing despite herculean conservation efforts, but Asiatic Lions seem to be enjoying a revival in Gujarat’s Gir Forest.

Though the exact numbers will be known only when the Lion census (scheduled to start next month) gets over, there is expected to be a 20% increase over the population recorded in the previous census. During the 2005 census, 359 lions were found in Gir.

After the projected increase of 20%, 425 are expected to be found. If the census reflects and proves this trend, lion conservation in Gujarat will become the biggest and most successful conservation success stories in the world. The increase in the lion population has happened despite the paltry sums being allocated for lion conservation by the Centre.

Chief conservator of forest MM Sharma, who’s currently in Junagadh wildlife circle, told DNA that the Centre gave around Rs70 lakh for lion conservation in 2009 even though it spent hundreds of crores on tigers. “Just one Mumbai-based trust has donated Rs81 lakh this year,” Sharma said. The success, acknowledged and appreciated in the conservators’ community, has been attributed mainly to the local people — the residents of 1,500 villages in the Junagadh Districts and Bhavnagar Districts.

“Gujarat deserves a pat on the back for the lovely upkeep of lions. However, it must be kept in mind that this story would have been completely different if the lions had been in any other state,” said Yadvendra Jhala, faculty at the Wildlife Institute of India, who was part of the tiger census. “People here are mostly vegetarian, so the lions’ prey-base is not poached upon. The king of the jungle survives even out of the forest area.”

While the growth in numbers is being celebrated, there are three big challenges. Because of the increasing numbers and increasing human pressure in its periphery, the lion’s habitat is shrinking at its fastest rate. This will make it very difficult for the animals to move freely and multiply. Besides, the politicization over the ‘ownership’ of lions has made the issue of shifting some lions to safer habitats very complicated. This means lions face the biggest threats from natural calamity or disease.

The conservation is successful because lions now roam over 8,000 sq km in Saurashtra. “There is no retaliatory killing even if lions kill livestock. Villagers are proud to have them here.”

Sasan Gir National Park – 72 Asiatic Lions Die in Last 2 years

Gujarat Prime Minister Narendra Modi says Asiatic lions are the pride of Gujarat and he won't part with them. But the animals seem to be endangered in their sole habitat. The Gujarat State Government has admitted that 72 Asiatic lions died in the Gir Sanctuary in the past two years.

Of them, one was killed by poachers and the rest, the government claimed, were from natural causes. Replying to a question in the assembly, the state government said on Tuesday that there were only 291 lions left in the Gir sanctuary as on December 31, 2009.

Among them were 100 lionesses and 123 cubs in a park spread over 1,400 sq km of Sasan Gir forest area. Conservationists have long complained that Gir Jungle was overcrowded and some lions need to be shifted to a sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. But Modi has repeatedly said he wasn't going to share the state's biggest tourist attraction.

More than 13,500 open wells in Gir pose a threat to lions, many of which have been killed after falling into them. Many lion deaths in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary have occurred from fights between the animals. "There are several deaths because of territorial fights over lionesses," says conservationist Sanat Chavan.

However, some officials say though lions are dying in large numbers, the total population is higher than what the government gave the assembly. Principal Chief Conservator of forests Pradeep Khanna told TOI that the data was only about lions in the protected area.

"Lions are also found in Girnar hills, in the coastal area as well as in Bhavnagar District and other parts outside the sanctuary. The last census showed there were 359 lions. The next census will be held by April this year," he said.

Wildlife Lovers News about High-tech gadgets for Sasan Gir National Park Asiatic Lions

Below news really good news for Wildlife Lovers especially for Asiatic Lions (Sorath No Sinh) from Gujarat India because declination to give Gir Lions to Madhya Pradesh for their relocation in Kuno-Palpur sanctuary last week, Now Gujarat Government try their level best for better care of Asiatic Lions. Please continue to read this Sasan Gir Lions Samachar (news) from Junagadh District that,

Gujarat government is in the process of introduction of high-tech gadgets like GPS, automated sensor grid and night vision devices to make the jungles safe in an effort to strengthen Asiatic lion conservation at Gir National Park after poaching incidents of 2007.

"Based on the recommendations of the task force, we are in the process to introduce these high-tech gadgets in the Gir forest for the lion conservation. We have identified technology partners for the development of communication systems based on GPS “Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Pradeep Khanna said.

Asiatic Lions Sasan Gir National Park Wildlife Jungle News India

Sasan Gir Wildlife Forest patrol staff to be equipped with GPS units.

Project will be in three phases starting 2010; will help Gir forest department maintain cartographic data on lion population.

Five hundred field staff manning the Sasan Gir Jungle will now have to be on their toes as senior officers of the Forest Department will be monitoring their on-field movements.

This comes after the state Ministry of Forest and Environment finalized the Rs 20 crore project of equipping the field staff with the Global Positioning System (GPS) Hand Held Units (HHU).

With this, the Forest Department will now be equipped to monitor the Asiatic lions on a daily basis by the end of 2010. This will fill up several gaps in the management, they say.

The project is the outcome of recommendations by the task force formed by MOEF on May 25, 2007 following a series of reports of poaching of Asiatic lions.

This system with a Geographical Information System (GIS) control room at the Junagadh forest office will provide a daily account of the surveillance activity and the dispersal of the big cats in the two divisions of Sasan Gir National Park.

Any senior officer at the headquarters will be able to keep daily tabs on the Asiatic lions and the surveillance staff with the help of maps — updated daily through the GIS system. Forest officers will know about the the location of the surveillance staff in the forest areas, as also which portion of the lion habitat has been patrolled or skipped in a month or in a week.

The system will also help keep tabs on areas where man and animal conflict has increased or decreased.

Senior officers at Gir said the entire lion habitat could be visualised through this system.

Pradeep Khanna, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Administration, said: “The tender for HHUs will be issued shortly. At present, 500 field staff will be equipped with these. Each of the HHUs will have specifications on the location of a kill and the reason behind the lion deaths (trauma or accidents). The project will be in three phases, beginning 2010. The state Forest Department intends to extend it to nearly 1,000 field staff.”

He said: “The Bangalore-based soft ware firm CMC institute will work on the project,” adding that the government has given the go ahead.

A senior forest officer said: “Nearly 20 per cent of the total population of Asiatic lions will be radio-collared so that their daily dispersal pattern can be properly assessed. At present, the monitoring of animal movement is limited to few research studies and projects.”

He said the day-to-day sightings are recorded and reported in forms, reports and registers, but the compilation and collation of such voluminous data for the entire lion population or even of the Gir Protected Area Network is manually not feasible on a daily or weekly basis.

“A longer time period will render the data obsolete. It is impossible to maintain a cartographic record of such data over a few years to generate long-term time-series and use it for trend-forecasting. But with the GIS in place, the forest officers will have ready data of the dispersal pattern of Asiatic lions,” he added.