Project Lion proposes Barda in Gujarat as second home for Asiatic lions
The Gujarat government has proposed the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) as a second habitat for the Asiatic lions.
- It is about 100 km from Gir National Park where the population of this big cat has increased. > The Central Government has given in-principle approval to this project.
- The recommendation to relocate the lions to Barda was made in the report titled “Lion @ 2047: Vision for Amritkal”.
- This report was issued by the Wildlife Institute of India. The Maldhari community also resides in Barda.
BWS will save the lion population from extinction in the following situations-
- Diseases like canine distemper virus
- An unexpected decrease in the number of prey
- Natural calamities,
- Retaliatory killing etc.
Under Project Lion, landscape ecology based conservation of Asiatic lions has been envisaged in Gujarat. For this, conservation and environment-development will be integrated.
It was started in 2020 on the lines of Project Tiger and Project Elephant. Asiatic lions are found only in India. They have 5 protected areas in Gujarat – Gir National Park, Gir Sanctuary, Paniya Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary and Girnar Sanctuary.
Conservation Status: It is listed in Schedule – 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and in Appendix – 1 of CITES. It is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. African lions are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Lion @47 Vision for Amrit Kaal
- Protecting and restoring the habitats of lions,
- Involving local communities in conservation,
- To make India a global hub for diagnosis and treatment of big cat diseases and to promote conservation through initiatives such as Project Lion.
Source – Hindustan Times
