One more lioness dies, toll touches 14 in Gir

Yet another lioness has died in the Dalkhaniya range of East Gir on Tuesday. The lioness was found ill during a survey by the forest team and had been under treatment at the rescue centre, however, succumbed to her illness.

With this death, the total number of the lions that have died in the range has touched 14. The forest department in a release said that following the death of 11 lions including six cubs due to infighting and infections some days ago, the department created 64 teams to keep an eye on all the lions in the range.

The release said that the teams have been looking after the lions, observing their behavior and looking for signs of illness. In all, 102 teams comprising of 399 employees are at work across the Gir east and west covering not just the national park and sanctuary but areas outside it, too. The team will cover 785 km of which 490 km is protected area.

"During the survey, 164 lions were observed of which 4 had suffered common injuries while one seemed to be very weak. A lioness in Dalkhaniya range was found to be extremely ill and brought to the rescue centre where it died," the department said in a release. "The liones was around nine years of age and a chip found on it confirmed that the lioness had earlier been found ill , had been treated and released in the wild," said the release.

Earlier, a two member team from the Centre had come to Gujarat and suggested screening of lions in Dalkhaniya range. The team had also sought that the tissue samples of the 11 dead lions be sent to Pune and Bhopal to know the exact cause of death.

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