Gir Forest Asiatic Lion Conservation Gujarat

Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Junagadh and Amreli districts of Gujarat is the last refuge of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), a subspecies of lion that once ranged from the Middle East to India but was reduced to fewer than 20 individuals in the early twentieth century by hunting and habitat loss. Through strict protection since the Nawab of Junagadh's hunting prohibition in 1900 and formal national park declaration in 1965, the Gir lion population has recovered to over 700 individuals, with the latest census (2020) counting 674 lions across the Gir forest and increasingly in areas outside the core sanctuary. The Maldhari pastoralists, semi-nomadic herders who traditionally lived inside the Gir forest with their ness (forest hamlets) and herds of buffalo and cattle, have been gradually relocated from the core zone while some remain in buffer areas. Maldhari's traditional knowledge of Gir terrain, water sources, and lion behavior patterns is extensive. The coexistence of the Maldhari with lions for centuries, with documented cases of lions living near human settlements, makes Gir a model for human-predator coexistence in landscapes with high human density. The Asiatic lion's restricted geographic range in a single state creates a conservation vulnerability: a single disease outbreak or disaster could eliminate the wild population.