Pride And Prejudice

The Death Of 23 Endangered Asiatic Lions Within 10 Days At Gir Sanctuary Raises Alarm And Rekindles The Debate Over Their Long-delayed Relocation To Neighbouring Madhya Pradesh

- Uday Mahurkar

Things are settling down at Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the last abode of the endangered Asiatic lion, where some 23 of the big cats were found dead between September 12 and 21. Half the deaths were attributed to the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), which is transmitted through domestic cattle and animals, and Babesia Protozoa (BP), spread by ticks in domestic animals. Both cause fever, weakness, loss of appetite and eventual death. In 1994, 1,000 lions at Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park—a third of the lion population there—were wiped out by CDV. The virus had apparently spread through dogs. The crisis at Gir, however, hasn’t taken a Serengeti-like turn because of prompt measures by a team of 550 forest personnel, led by senior officials, and veterinary doctors. The team examined blood samples of about 64 lions across prides since September 27 and conducted an ocular assessment of almost all the 500-plus surviving lions in and around the 1,458 sq. km sanctuary. These include the approximately 260 lions that migrated out of the sanctuary years ago as their numbers grew.

Around 33 of the 64 lions sampled are still under observation at the sanctuary’s rescue centre in Jamwala village. The remaining 31 big cats were released into the forests with microchips in their tails for identification. Some 300 doses of a special anti-CDV vaccine swiftly imported from the US were administered to the 33 lions. But, officials claim, the crisis had subsided by the time the vaccine arrived. “The exercise undertaken must be one of the biggest ever against the eruption of viral diseases,” says Gujarat additional chief secretary (forest and environment) Rajiv Kumar Gupta. “It was almost like a full-fledged census carried out in a matter of days.”