Context
On World Lion Day 2026, the government highlighted that India’s Asiatic Lion population increased from 523 in 2015 to 891 in 2025. Project Lion is being implemented for their long-term conservation through habitat protection, disease management, scientific monitoring and community participation.
Explanation
- Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of lion whose only wild population occurs in Gujarat, India.
- Its principal habitat is Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, with its range extending across the Saurashtra landscape.
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable; CITES: Appendix I; Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
- World Lion Day is observed annually on August 10.
- Project Lion, announced in 2020, follows a landscape-level conservation approach rather than focusing solely on Gir.
- It emphasises habitat improvement, prey-base management, disease surveillance, veterinary care, scientific population monitoring and community participation.
- Technologies such as GIS, radio-collaring and surveillance systems aid lion monitoring and conflict management.
- Concentration of lions within one geographical region creates vulnerability to epidemics, natural disasters, habitat pressures and human-wildlife conflict.
- Lion range expanded from about 30,000 sq. km in 2020 to nearly 35,000 sq. km.
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