Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government is not
interested in the Centre`s latest offer made by the Union
Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh to swap Asiatic
lions in Gir reserve with tigers, a top official said.
"There is no way Gujarat can part with its lions. The
state has shown a successful model of conservation of lions
and therefore it does not want to part with it," the official
said.
"We have developed expertise in not only conservation
of the wild cats through community protection, but also in
wildlife crime management. We have had only one incident of
lion poaching in the state and the case has been cracked in
just a matter of months unlike many cases of tigers poaching
which are yet to be cracked," the official said, emphasising
that the state will not budge from its position regarding the
Asiatic lions, often known as the pride of Gujarat.
The minister had yesterday made an offer to
re-introduce tigers in the Dangs region of the state in
exchange for Asiatic lions which it plans to relocate in
Madhya Pradesh.
According to Ramesh, he had made an offer to
re-introduce tigers in the Dangs region of Gujarat where the
big cats ruled the jungles about 25 years back.
Gujarat has been opposing the Centre`s decade-old
proposal to relocate Asiatic lions from the Gir reserve to a
300 sq km forest at Kunopalpur in Sheopur district of Madhya
Pradesh.
The matter is before Supreme Court.
Ramesh admitted that he has been unable to find a
reasonable reply to Gujarat Chief Minister`s contention of
community protection of wildlife in the state.
The Maldhari community is known to protect the lions
even at the cost of their own lives, he said.
PTI
