Context: 

In a reply in Lok Sabha, the Government outlined that  555 Asiatic lions died in 5 years.

Govt Says 555 Asiatic Lions Died In Five Years

• However, there is no increase in mortality rate observed.
• Overall Rise: The number of Lions in Gir rose from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.

Asiatic Lions

• They are a member of the panthera leo leo sub-species that is restricted to India presently.
• Distribution: Their range is limited to Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the Saurashtra Region of Gujarat  at present.
• Protection Status:  
  • IUCN: Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • Wildlife( Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I

• Causes of Deaths Asiatic lions 

• • Natural:  Old age, cannibalism, hunger deaths and victims of infighting, human-wildlife conflict
  • Unnatural: 
    • Limited capacity of Gir National park: The Protected area is already operating at double their capacity, pushing Lions out of its boundary as 45-55 percent of Gir’s lion population lives outside the protected areas.

• • • Diseases and Epidemics: Like rabies, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, anaemia, hepatitis and multiple organ failure and the outbreak of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) in 2018
    • Competition: The lions are sharing their habitat with Leopard leading to more competition for prey and shelter
    • Drowning in open wells with no concrete parapets
    • Accidents: Roads and Railway tracks passing through the protected areas and forests 
    • Electrocution:  by electric fences securing agricultural land. 

• Conservation Measures For Asiatic lions 

• • Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (CSS-IDWH): Lions included in the Centrally Sponsored Scheme whereby funding assistance is provided  to the state for protection and conservation of wildlife and its habitats in Protected Areas (PAs) as well as outside PAs.
  • Project Lion was started in 2020
  • Translocation of lions from Gir: As per a  report by the Wildlife Institute of India there is a plan to translocate 40 lions to the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary,(100 kilometers from the Gir National Park)
    • Objective: To ensure  geographic separation and establish a second free-ranging population of lions to mitigate conservation risks
    • In 2013, the Supreme Court ordered the translocation of lions from Gir to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.