Lion with its majestic looks in Manes and Elan and Tiger with its grace and gorgeous persona have made the wild world awe-inspiring and beautiful and India is fortunate to have them both thanks to our culture and nature-loving people. The Gujarat Forest Department recently announced the results of the 16th Lion census carried out earlier this month in May 2025. The population of Lions in the last five years jumped from 674 in 2020 to 891 now. It is an incredible increase of 32 per cent. Out of this 384 are in Gir National Park, Gir and Panis Sanctuary in Sasangir spread over 1410 sq km area (258.7 sq km in National Park and 1051.6 sq km in Sanctuary). The rest 340 almost 44 per cent Lions now live outside the Gir protective area network. The success of the Tiger, Lion and elephant is a remarkable example of the conservation of wildlife in the world and proves the professional mettle of foresters especially the field foresters who never hog the limelight and work silently in difficult interior areas devoid of basic civic amenities. The journey of conserving this majestic animal shows that Amreli District has shown the highest count of 257 lions. For the first time, 17 Lions were noticed in Barda sanctuary also. For the past 26 years from 205 in 1979-80, Lions now have a very viable population of 891 which opens up doors for scientific discussions so that its future management can be ensured with the support and cooperation of communities. The large increase in population will pose a management challenge of creating new habitats in the next 10 years when the population may go up sizably. The recent killing of a forest ranger by a Tiger in Ranthambore National Park has thrown a challenge to wildlife and forest experts on how to deal with the increasing population of carnivores like Tigers and Lions when we breach their habit of natural hunting instinct of searching for the prey.
Wildlife and forest conservation received a big boost after the enactment of the Wildlife Act 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act 1980. The ‘Project Lion’ launched in the year 2020 has helped in the big rise in the Lion population and especially with the 27 per cent increase in the female population the chances of a further rapid increase in population are expected. Under Project Lion the Gujarat Forest Department focused on improving the habitat, Global positioning systems, use of magnetic sensor grids and the use of radio collars and camera traps thus monitoring the population effectively. The Lion census (unlike in the case of the Tiger census where pugmark and camera traps are used), is more authentic because direct Beat Verification was carried out by the staff by using robust scientific methods and dividing the area into regions, zones and sub-zones. For the future management of wildlife, it is necessary to analyse the geographic reach of the Asiatic Lion. It was widely spread in Asia from Saudi Arabia to Iran to Pakistan to Central and Western India and Bengal till the 19th century. In 1900 only about 100 lions were surviving. But this courageous animal living in groups called ‘prides’ was mercilessly easily hunted by cowards as they were easy targets to proclaim their so-called bravery in killing animals like Tigers and Lions. The Princely states used to invite Britishers for hunting expeditions and these people decimated a large population of Lions and Tigers. The Prides live in a well-defined territory and defend it. Over the years the habitat of the Lion in India deteriorated and the population shrunk to only around a dozen in the Gir Forest of Gujarat which was a part of the hunting area of Nawab of Junagarh. The 400 species of flora of deciduous scrub/forests (the best habitat for Lion) and perineal rivers like Hiran, Shetranji, Shingoda, and Dhatarwadi have played a crucial part along with Maldharies in conserving Lion in the Sasangir area. A few years ago, the Government of India tried to create another habitat for the Lion in Madhya Pradesh but the Gujarat Government did not agree to the translocation.
The country has made a name for itself in the international arena by conserving its bio-diversity heritage despite a population of more than 143 billion. We have all the ecosystem’s flagship species like the Lion, Tiger, Leopard and now the Cheetah. As the population of these carnivores is increasing, we need to ensure that the prey base for these species in forest areas does not shrink and the habitat is not fragmented. The euphoria of the Tiger and Lion census can not hide the precarious conditions of our natural forests as the Forest Survey India’s 2023 State of Forest Report has candidly shown that regeneration in 48 per cent of the natural forests is inadequate and almost 46,000 hectares of forests have no tree growth.
One of the direct impacts of forest degradation is in shrinking water levels in rainfed rivers like Narmada, and Godavari which survive on good natural forests. The use of water for irrigation and hydel projects is also reducing water in rivers. Groundwater recharge of aquifers also is affected by a lack of regeneration and deforestation. Similarly, the shrinking Glaciers are reducing water in our glacier-fed rivers like Ganga. According to Global Forest Watch, India has lost 2.3 million hectares of forest since 2000. This includes 4,14,000 hectares of humid primary forest from 2002 to 2023 and in 2024, India lost 18,200 hectares of primary forest.
The forest officers though working hard enough barring a few young officers have been succumbing to bureaucratic and political pressures. The politicians regard them as road blockers in their vision of satisfying their vote bank and in governance without genuine political backing no cadre can work independently. One fine example is the way the Forest Rights Act 2006 is being implemented by the Tribal Affairs Ministry without having any cap on the date of application. It means you continue to encroach on forests and we are here to regularise it under the Act. This is not only detrimental to conservation ethos but to genuine tribal interests. They are creating a frank stein in tribal areas.
On the contrary, they should along with the forest department draw up a scheme for the development of vested lands for the livelihoods of tribals.
(The author is the Chairman of the Centre for Resource Management and Environment. Views are personal)