Lion Deaths in Gir: Demanding fair probe, outfit calls for bandh

The call for bandh comes after 23 Asiatic lions died between September 12 and September 29. All the deaths were reported from Sarasiya Vidi area in Dalkhaniya range of Gir (east) division forest.

Demanding a fair probe into the deaths of 23 Asiatic lions in Gir, Bajrang Group, a charitable organisation, gave a call for bandh in Dhari even as Additional Chief Secretary of Forest and Environment Department, Rajiv Kumar Gupta, visited the affected forest area on Monday. The outfit on Monday appealed to traders and shopkeepers to observe a bandh on Tuesday. The forest department has declared that 23 lions have died. But people who are living near the affected forest area are telling us that the actual figure is higher. Therefore, to demand a thorough and fair probe into the incident and to take measures to prevent such events in the future.

The call for bandh comes after 23 Asiatic lions died between September 12 and September 29. Forest officers said that presence of the dreaded canine distemper virus (CDV) has been detected in samples of four of the dead lions while the presence of Babesiosis and Gram Negative Bacillia bacterial infection has been confirmed in samples of a few others.

After CDV and other infection was confirmed in some of the dead lions, the forest department had rescued 33 lions. These lions had been administered CDV vaccine imported from US. The forest department said that order for 500 more doses had been placed.