How 2025 lion census unravels perils, positives of harmonious lion-human coexistence

India Today

6 days ago

Former Gujarat wildlife warden H.S. Singh came upon a familiar sight during the Asiatic Lion census 2025. 'In a mango orchard in the Jamwala range of Gir Somnath district, a lion was relaxing under the shade of a mango tree while a woman was going about her routine of plucking mangoes a few feet away. It was just another day in the lion landscape of Saurashtra,' he says.Spread across an expanse of 35,000 sq km, the Asiatic Lion population increased by 32 per cent in the census conducted by the forest department in mid-May—from 674 enumerated in 2020 to 891.advertisementOver the past 35 years, the lion territory has expanded by 430 per cent—from 6,600 sq km in 1990 to 35,000 sq km in 2025, while the lion population itself has increased by 213 per cent. This indicates lions were travelling long distances for prey, and since they were unable to find sufficient quantity, population growth was stunted.In the past decade, however, this trend seems to be reversing. The lion population has increased by 70.36 per cent over the 10 years while the area of distribution went up by 59.09 per cent. Since capacity in the four main sanctuaries is long exhausted, the big cats are surviving on the edges of the forests close to human habitation and farmland, where they prey on livestock.
Combining the latest lion population data with the leopard population recorded in 2023, Singh summarises that the lion landscape has 1,886 big cats, including 995 leopards, competing for habitat and prey.advertisementHowever, Dr Y.V. Jhala, former dean of the Wildlife Institute of India and a lion expert, is cautious. 'Farmers get compensated for livestock attacks. Besides the illegal lion sightings also have economic potential. If lion density increases beyond a point and cost exceeds benefits, this fine balance could be lost,' he says.Quoting forest department data, Singh says 189 lion attacks between 2015 and 2024 resulted in 35 human deaths. The forest department settled 28,798 compensation cases for kills of livestock, of which 80 per cent were lion attacks. Like tigers and leopards, lions are known to scavenge too.In multiple use human-dominated landscapes beyond the Gir Protected Area Zone, live and dead livestock contribute substantial food along with blue bulls and wild pigs. In fact, the blue bull population is high in the villages and nearly half of the food for lions comes from blue bulls in the lion conservation landscape beyond the Gir Protected Area Zone. They share the prey with other scavengers in the forests.As per the livestock census in 2019, the estimated population of livestock—cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, dogs and others—is over 2.29 million in the four main lion districts (Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagadh and Gir-Somnath) against over 170,830 individuals wild ungulates (including 98,420 wild ungulates in Gir Protected Area). Additionally, there are 80,050 stray cattle and 208,020 stray dogs in these four districts. This makes for survival of lions with high density in the lion's conservation landscape.advertisementAs per wildlife counting in 2023, there were 84,470 wild ungulates, mainly blue bulls, in other seven non-lion districts in Saurashtra. Additionally, as per the recent records of the Department of Animal Husbandry (2024), there are 121,980 stray cattle (mainly bulls) and 198,480 stray dogs. These stray domestic animals are unguarded and have negative value to the villagers, and may be treated as freely available prey base for carnivores in line with wild ungulates. Thus, a total 404,930 prey animals are free prey base for carnivores in the seven non-lion districts.Additionally, there are about 1.35 million domestic cows in seven districts. If they are not hunted by the carnivores, their carcasses after death would be available to them. Livestock population, including cows in the seven districts, is about 3.94 million in Saurashtra. 'These figures speak about the abundance of food for lions in future, if they disperse and colonise suitable habitats there,' Singh postulates.Considering the prevailing trend of lion's population growth and their dispersion in new areas, the Gujarat forest department prepared a long-term comprehensive project in 2023, 'The Project Lion@2047—A Vision of Amrut Kal'. This means lion conservation may achieve new heights in terms of population and distribution range in the entire Saurashtra by the time India celebrates 100 years of Independence in 2047, adds Singh.advertisementThe 2025 census report claims 496 (55.7 per cent) lions were found inside forest areas in the lion landscape, up from 345 (51 per cent) in the 2020 report. This is surprising because there has been no addition to the forest cover, except that 16 lions have colonised the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in Porbandar, spread over 192 sq km. The census report terms it a conservation success story.Wildlife biologist and big cat expert Ravi Chellam welcomes the Barda development but explains that it does not serve as any implementation of the 2013 Supreme Court order directing Gujarat to translocate some lions out of Saurashtra for long-term conservation and species preservation.'The forest department states that the lions have naturally migrated to Barda, which means there is a corridor between the Gir forest and Barda. Barda is also barely 100 km from Gir as a crow flies. In the event of a natural disaster, such as a cyclone or disease outbreak, the lions in Barda will also be exposed to the same risks,' says Chellam.advertisementAnother striking revelation is the increase in lions' coastal population by 29 per cent. While 134 lions were recorded in the coastal areas, the big cats prefer to live in open forests, mostly consisting of the thorny weed trees prosopois juliflora. In the last five years, floating populations were seen in the Union territory of Diu and the southern talukas of Ahmedabad district (Dhandhuka and Bavala). However, the 2025 census does not record either region as an established lion territory yet.Jhala says lions love the coast as it is cooler in the summers near the sea, and they will survive as long as they get prey and water. 'The need now is to give dedicated space to this wild carnivore to hunt its prey; otherwise, we are interfering with its evolutionary potential to remain 'wild',' he cautions.Other biologists are more concerned about the 22 lions recorded as 'floating population' in lion corridors. 'These corridors must now be guarded with utmost conservation priority. There are already highways, railway tracks, urban towns et al here. For instance, wide highways slice through the Girnar and Barda Wildlife Sanctuaries. There is immense commercial pressure for mining, urban infrastructure, solar plants, windmills and tourism demands to construct safari parks that would box in a free ranging population,' says Chaitanya Joshi, a wildlife conservationist closely associated with the Gir landscape.advertisementSubscribe to India Today Magazine