(Asiatic) Lion cubs 'chased' into well in Gir

7-4-07   The Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1729020.cms

 

7 Mar, 2007  GANDHINAGAR: The man-lion conflict in and around the Gir forest in Gujarat may be taking a turn for the worse with the state government disclosing on Tuesday that there could be something really sinister behind the recovery of bodies of two young lion cubs in a well inside the Gir forest on February 24.

 

What has aroused the suspicion of the forest authorities is vehicle tyre marks leading right up to the well, which may suggest that some miscreants actually chased the two lion cubs into the well.

 

The news comes on the heels of the killing of three Asiatic lionesses by poachers in the Babaria range of the Gir sanctuary on Saturday.

 

Forest minister Mangubhai Patel said during a discussion on the issue in the Vidhan Sabha that the two cubs drowned in the well and the government was conducting a detailed investigation into the matter.

 

This is not the first time that lions have died because of a fall into wells which are found all over the Gir forests, virtually becoming death traps for the Asiatic lions in their only home in the world. The minister said that 37 incidents of lions falling in open wells have been reported and of these 18 lions have been saved.

 

In the latest incident, bodies of two cubs were found in the 60-feet deep open well which had 15 feet of water. Like it is with so many other wells in the Gir forest, this well had an almost non-existent parapet wall which was less than one foot high.