“There should be a scientific inquiry into this gap of communication between the Centre and the state, or whether the people of India are being deliberately misled about the death of lions,” Kathwadia said. He expressed concern that much of the progress made in conserving the Asiatic lion — which used to roam most of West Asia, but is now confined to Gujarat — is being undone. “Since independence, we have been preserving lions and reaching these numbers, and now we appear to be going back in the same direction,” he added. A total of 239 lions, including 126 cubs, died in Gujarat in the last two years, and 29 of these fatalities were due to unnatural causes, the legislative assembly was told. Gujarat Forest Minister Mulubhai Bera in a written reply to a question by MLA Shailesh Parmar, said: “Of the 239 lion fatalities, 117 were reported in 2022 and 122 in 2023. While 210 lions succumbed to natural causes, 29 fatalities were due to unnatural causes such as the big cats getting hit by vehicles or falling into open wells.” Gujarat did well in conservation as the number of Asiatic lions increased by about 29% to 674 from 523 in just five years from 2015, according to a government report in 2020. Besides, the distribution area of the lions increased by 36%. But unnatural deaths continue to grow.
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