With the beginning of summer season, the Gujarat State forest department has decided to make arrangement of 500 man-made water bodies for the wild animals including Asiatic lions in and around Gir Forest, situated on the western part of the State.
Already most of the water bodies are being regularly filled with fresh water, said the official in the forest department. These water bodies are arranged at certain distance in order to cover maximum wild animals and would be filled with water twice in a day.
Some of these water bodies are being filled using water tankers but some innovative methods of using wind mills and even solar system are also handy to keep water bodies filled with water.
“In wake of inadequate monsoon last season, the state forest department has decided to make arrangement of water bodies,”” said R lala, DCF and in-charge of the project.
Gir is also known as the ‘last abode of Asiatic lions’. As per the last census in May 2015 there are 523 Asiatic lions in and around the Gir forest. Of these there are 109 adult male, 201 adult female and 213 cubs. In the 2010 census 411lions were recorded comprising 97 adult males, 162 adult females, 75 sub-adults, and 77 cubs.
Established in 1965, with a total area of 1412 sq km, Gir National Park is the sole home of the Asiatic lions and is considered to be one of the most important protected areas in the Asia due to its supported species.
Apart from Asiatic lions the count of 2375 fauna species of Gir includes about 38 species of mammals, around 300 species of birds, 37 species of reptiles and more than 2000 species of insects are also part of Gir National Park. The carnivores Group mainly comprise Indian leopards, Indian Cobras, Jungle Cats Hyenas, Golden Jackals, Indian Mongoose, Indian Palm Civets, Honey Badgers as well as Desert and rusty-spotted cats. The herbivores of Gir are blue bulls, four-horned antelope, wild boar, blackbucks etc.
It is worth mentioning that following the poaching of Asiatic lions in the year 2007, the state forest department has increased extra vigil to conserve Asiatic lions listed as endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In fact in the past five years as many as 310 lions were died due to natural as well as unnatural causes.