The iconic Asiatic lion's habitat is under increasing threat. Originally spanning an area from eastern Turkey to central India only several hundred are now believed to be in the wild, confined to the Gir Forest National Park in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Only 523 to be precise.
Hunted to near-extinction for sport, Asiatic lions are an endangered species facing daily threats of poaching and territorial encroachment, as their habitat is overtaken by the human population.
According to the latest census released in 2015, an area of 1,412 square kilometres in the Gir forest in the Indian state of Gujarat is the only home to the Asiatic lions.
Recent incidents of cruelty are also threatening the well-being and the future of these kings of the jungle.
Recently, the forest department of the Gir Lion Sanctuary found more evidence of harassment of the Asiatic lion. In a video clip, a group of people, one of them with a live hen in his hand, is seen teasing a hungry lioness standing just a few metres away.
Source: Picture Press RM
A woman nearby warns them not to tease the lioness anymore. After some time, the man threw the hen, the lioness grabbed it and went away into the field.
In another video clip, a group of people were seen chasing a lion in a tractor in a protected area of the Gir forest range, before one of the men climbed down from the tractor and began pelting the animal with stones.
Girish Pachani from the Gujarat State Lions Conservation Society believed "human-lion conflicts" were on the rise in the sanctuary as the population of the endangered animal had increased - jumping from 411 in 2010 to 523 in 2015.
The pride of Gujarat, the rare Asiatic lion at Gir National Park, Gujarat, India Source: Flickr/Sankara Subramanian CC BY 2.0
“One lion needs 12 kilometers of area to roam around freely but the 27 percent rise in lion’s population caused conflicts with the humans as they sometimes enter in the human residential areas,” Mr Pachani said.
"We have our team keeping an eye on the people residing in the villages in the Gir forest. If anyone is found harassing lions, they inform us.
“Approximately 300 volunteers work for our organisation reporting every incident of people behaving suspiciously in the forest area."
According to a statement released by the Gujarat government in 2014, over 125 cases of human-animal confrontations have occurred in the surroundings of the Gir forest between 2013 and 14.
A lion walks through the Gir Sanctuary in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India. Source: AAP Image/AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade
These confrontations resulted in over 100 injuries and in 14 deaths.
Over 200 lions are also reported to have died in the last two years, 32 of them from "unnatural causes", such as poisoning, being run over by a train or vehicle, or falling into open wells on farms.
The rise in deaths has become a huge concern for the state government with tourism a major economic factor.
The Gujarat state government recently announced the implementation of harsh punishments for harassing and killing the lions, including a seven-year stint in prison.
Gir Forest National Park - Wikimedia Commons Source: Wikimedia Commons
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‘I was so engrossed, I had to be reminded to take a photo.'
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