March 6, 2018
The Asiatic lion population has come under
threat due to hunting and human encroachment on its habitat
The endangered Asiatic lion, which only lives
in one forest in India, has fought back from the verge of extinction, with its
population increasing to more than 600, a minister said Tuesday hailing a major
conservation campaign.
The lion, which once roamed across southwest
Asia but is now restricted to the 1,400 square kilometre (545 square mile) Gir
sanctuary in Gujarat state, was listed as critically endangered in 2000, with
its population under threat due to hunting and human encroachment on its
habitat.
A recent unofficial count found more than 600
lions in the area, up from 523 in a 2015 census, Gujarat's chief minister Vijay
Rupani said.
"Our efforts for lion conservation with
support of local people have yielded good results. The number of lions now in Gujarat has reached the 600 mark,"
Rupani said.
In the late 1960s only about 180 Asiatic
lions were thought to survive but an improvement in numbers prompted
conservationists to raise their assessment to endangered in 2008.
The population is currently growing at about
two percent a year, according to A.P. Singh, a state forest and wildlife
conservationist.
The cats are cousins of the African lion—they
are believed to have split away 100,000 years ago—but are slightly smaller and
have a distinctive fold of skin along their bellies.
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