ADULT MALE LION KILLS YEAR-OLD CUB IN FIGHT

Ahmedabad Mirror: Ahmedabad: Tuesday, May 29, 2018.

Alion cub was found dead in the Tulsi Forest Range of Gujarat’s Amreli district with nail marks on its body and post mortem confirmed that it had been killed by an adult lion, a senior forest official said on Monday.

The cub, about a year old, was found dead in Bhaniyavidi village of Khambha tehsil in Amreli district yesterday, said Range Forest Officer P R Patel. “There were nail marks on the body of the lion cub. A post mortem confirmed that the cause of death was infighting,” said Patel and added that, “Normally if a male lion sees cubs of other males in his area he attacks them, it is a natural phenomenon in animals. A leopard died natural death because of its age.”

The forest department team that rushed to the spot also found the presence of an adult male lion close to where the cub’s body was found. The fight between this adult lion and the cub possibly took place about 18 hours ago and the adult might have visited the spot a second time, Patel said.The cub’s carcass was cremated at the same spot where it was found, he said.

State government had admitted in the Legislative Assembly that 184 lions died in the two years 2016 and 2017 with most deaths caused due to natural causes. In 2017 itself 32 lion cubs died due to natural causes in Gujarat while six were unnatural.

According to sources, a leopard was found dead on Monday in Pipalva revenue area of Tulshishyam. The leopard is believed to have died a natural death. According to an RTI response from forest department, there is an increase in leopard deaths due to infighting.

Eleven lions died in year 2015-16, lower than 2013-14 and 2014-15 where 16 and 13 lions died respectively. The 14th Lion Census, which took place between May 2-5 in 2015, had estimated the total number of lions in Gujarat at 523.

Of these, 201 were adult lionesses, 109 adult males and 213 sub-adults and cubs. According to district-wise break-up provided in the 2015 census, there were 268 lions in Junagadh, 44 in Somnath, 174 in Amreli and 37 in Bhavnagar.