Ahmedabad: Gujarat government has identified
an area near Wankaner in Rajkot district for relocation of
lions from the Gir National Park.
The area near Wankaner is the second area identified by
the state government after Bardo Dungar in Porbandar district
for the lion gene pool project which aims to guard against the
threat of an epidemic that can wipe out the entire population
of lions in Gir.
Gir is the last abode of Asiatic lions where there are an
estimated number of 360 lions. The Gujarat forest department
would conduct a fresh census later this month.
"We have identified vast area of land near Wankaner for
conservation of lions," state forest minister Mangubhai Patel
told the state Assembly recently.
The state government said they have identified this land
for long-term conservation of lions. They have also planned to
make drinking water available in the area and construct check
dams, the minister informed the House.
"Land identified in Wankaner will be used for gene pool
project to maintain gene diversity of lions," Chief wildlife
conservator Pradeep Khanna said.
However, the officials of state forest department said
long-term plan is to relocate some lions in the area which has
been prepared as an exclusive zone for them.
A recently released report of task force for lion
conservation said lion population has been brought back from
the brink of extinction after almost a century of conservation
effort.
"The issues of genetic bottlenecking, genetic depression
and catastrophic extinction have been discussed in general
terms for a long time among the conservationists from the
point of view of single population of any endangered species,"
it said.
A few studies have shown that the present lion population
in Gir does not suffer from any inbreeding related genetic
depression. A population viability health analysis carried out
some time ago showed that the probability of catastrophic
extinction was extremely low, the report said.
This does not brook complacency on the conservation
front. On the contrary, the government has stepped up its
vigilance regarding conservation of germ-plasm, the report
said.
The area identified in Wankaner will be used as a part of
this project in the intitial state and some lions will be
relocated as a part of project, officials said.
The state government is fighting a legal battle in the
Supreme Court against translocation of Gir lions in
Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 15, 2010, 09:49