Tuesday, July 02, 2013

No translocation only natural migration

28-06-2013
No translocation only natural migration
The Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-28/ahmedabad/40254388_1_translocation-asiatic-lions-gir-national-park

A report submitted by an NGO, Empower Foundation, to the forest department has stated that lions should not be translocated and the big cats should be allowed to migrate naturally only.

The report has suggested that even if the need arises, the lions should be given a safe passage and should be given a natural corridor to any other place, but they should not be translocated to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, which will result into a failed translocation and extinction of the endangered lions from the new proposed habitat, a big loss to the wildlife.

The report has stated that lions are not present only in the Gir National Park, but over a period of time have migrated naturally hundred of kilometres away to places like Amreli, Savarkundla, Liliya Porbandar, Paniya, Mitiyala, Barda, Una, Chhara, Sutrapada, Babariya, Kodinar, Visavadar, Hipavadli, Jamvada, Jasadhar, Girnar, Bhavnagar and Palitana. The 1,412 sq km abode of Asiatic lions has now spread across 10,500 sq km, thus mitigating concentration risk in one area.

Jalpesh Mehta of Empower Foundation said if an epidemic can kill all lions in Gujarat, it can also kill all the tigers in the MP-Rajasthan-Maharashtra belt (Pench-Kanha-Bandhavgarh-Ranthambhor) and south India's Karnataka-Kerala-Tamilnadu belt (Mudumalai-Nagarhole-Bandipur-Waynad) as the distance is almost similar between Gir and other areas as compared to tiger reserves.

The report has further stated that Gujarat should stop using Gir lions, in fact the Gujarat government should communicate that they are found everywhere and should mention lions in Gir, outside Gir or in Greater Gir or Saurashtra region to correct the world's perception on the issue.

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