Context:
The government is considering the creation of a separate free-ranging Asiatic lion population outside Gujarat after consultation with states and scientific bodies. This is significant because India’s Asiatic lions remain concentrated in and around Gir, making them vulnerable to disease outbreaks, disasters and genetic risks.
- Asiatic lions are found naturally only in India, mainly in the Gir landscape of Gujarat, making them an isolated population.
- A single concentrated population faces risks from epidemics, natural disasters, habitat pressure, genetic bottleneck and human–wildlife conflict.
- The Supreme Court had earlier supported translocation of some lions to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh, to create a second secure habitat.
- Free-ranging population means lions living in open natural habitats, not permanently kept in enclosures.
- Diseases such as Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) can spread from dogs or other animals to wild carnivores and may threaten big cat populations.
- Lion conservation requires habitat preparedness, prey base management, disease surveillance, veterinary care, genetic monitoring and inter-state coordination.
- India’s big cat conservation is linked with Project Lion, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, National Board for Wildlife, protected areas and landscape-level conservation.
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Asiatic Lion Conservation and Second Habitat Strategy