Why Gir’s ‘endangered’ Asiatic lions need a second home

The major wild ungulate prey of lions in Gir include chital (Axis axis), sambar (Rusa unicolor), nilgais (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and wild pigs (Sus scrofa). Lions also prey on chousingha (Tetracerus quadricornis), chinkara (Gazella bennettii) and grey langurs (Semnopithecus entellus). In addition, prey could also include a large number of livestock, both buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) and Brahminy cattle (Bos taurus), belonging to the local pastoral Maldhari community.

Periodically, and especially during droughts, large numbers of domestic livestock (particularly Brahminy cattle) enter the GPA for grazing. Lions have been recorded killing people during periods of severe drought. Outside the GPA, the primary prey of lions are Brahminy cattle and wild ungulate prey (e.g., nilgais and wild pigs). Kill data within the protected area indicates that male chital and male sambar are vulnerable to lion predation; wild ungulates contribute more to the diet of lions. Livestock contribute more to the diet outside the GPA.

Social Organization

The social organization of Gir lions is similar to that of African lions in most ways. The core unit of the lions’ matrilocal society is the pride, which consists of related females (none dominant) and their cubs. Prides are ‘fission-fusion’ social units—membership is stable, pride members can give birth in synchrony and the young are reared communally, with cubs suckling freely from any lactating female. The adult sex ratio is 1:2. As no female pride is exclusive to any particular coalition, females tend to be promiscuous, which aids in warding off infanticide and enhancing genetic fitness.

A single male or a hierarchical coalition of even five males holds tenure over one or more prides, and the dominant male in the coalition accounts for most of the matings and gets a ‘lion’s share’ of the kills. Ideally, the tenure of the coalition should be around 30 months, which gives the cubs the time and opportunity to grow safe from infanticide. Male lions are, to some extent, able to fend for themselves as they occasionally kill wild ungulates, rob the kills of females and leopards, kill livestock or feed on dead cattle (left by the Maldharis) which are brought by Forest Department staff members from the GPA to feed the lions. One major difference in the social organization of Serengeti and Gir lions is that the male coalitions of the latter join the prides (female groups) only when there is a large kill or the females are in oestrus. This difference could be due to the average weight (approx. 40 kg.) of the most commonly killed prey (chital), which will not provide enough meat for a female group if it is consistently accompanied by males. Kin selection does not permit the males to rob their own cubs of food, something which would result in the cubs’ death.

Gir lions usually, but not always, hunt at night. Like most cats, lions stalk their prey. Larger prey is brought down by inflicting ventral neck bites before it is killed. While killing domestic buffaloes, lions have been observed leaping on their backs, grasping them with their forepaws and biting the buffaloes while keeping their own hind legs firmly on the ground, using them as support in levering the prey off balance. Once, two lionesses were seen killing a massive nilgai bull by biting it across the muzzle—a method adopted by Serengeti lions to kill wildebeest. The neck of the nilgai was so large and muscular that a neck bite would have been ineffective. There were claw marks on the sides and the back of the nilgai.

What portions, and how much, of the carcass the lions eat depends upon the size of the kill and the number of lions. Since natural water is available in most areas, and the Forest Department also provides water at designated locations, Gir lions do not need to go without water for extended periods, unlike the lions of the Kalahari.

The most common friendly encounter or greeting between adult or near-adult lionesses is head rubbing. Most contacts between adult males and females, exclusive of courting, are sharp, aggressive and subordinating for the lioness. Lions use several ways to vocalize: ‘moah’ to call cubs, coughs and grunts when alarmed, growls for warnings, and roars as long-distance calls. Lionesses roar less than males and their roars are comparatively weaker and shorter. Roaring, spraying, defecation and clawing of trees are forms of territorial advertisement. In disturbed habitats, in behaviour similar to tigers, lions seldom roar.

Reproduction

While the onset of spermatogenesis begins at 30 months in males and females may begin mating at 24 months, successful reproduction for male lions can happen at ages ranging from five to eight years. Gir lions commonly court for four or five days and, during this period, the mating pair moves little more than a few hundred metres, usually. Mating is frequent, sometimes as often as every 15 minutes. While male lions stay close to females, usually within 4–5 m., it is the lioness that commonly initiates mating. Gir lions, like African lions, are expected to have an oestrus period of four days, an inter-oestrus period of 16 days and a gestation of 100–114 days.

Mating has been recorded in most months, with more being recorded at the end of September and in October. Most births occurred in the first half of the year. More matings than births have been observed, indicating that many of the matings did not result in conception.

The mean interbirth interval is about two years, and the litter size has a mean of 3. The cubs get weaned at five or six months and depend on the natal pride till they are two or three years of age. Cubs have high mortality. There have been instances of cubs born blind or with missing limbs—a possible manifestation of inbreeding because, during the 1960s, the population of Gir lions had become fewer than 100 animals (Gee 1964).

Conservation

The recovery of this population is largely due to legal protection, as the sub-species is listed in Schedule I of the IWL(P)AA, 2022. In addition to monetary compensation for livestock kills, religious and cultural sentiments have also played an important role in strengthening the conservation of the sub-species. The vegetarian nature of the diet of the majority of the human population in and around Gir has ensured the availability of meat, both domestic livestock and wild ungulates, for lions both within and outside Gir.

The conservation status of the Asiatic Lion, according to the IUCN Red List, is ‘Endangered’ (Breitenmoster et al. 2024). Priority actions for conserving the sub-species include: establishing a second home in Kuno National Park (NP); and creating a Maldhari- and cattle-free core area of approx. 1,000 sq. km. in Gir Lion NP to support a wild lion population. These lions should not receive treatment if sick or seriously injured, and should survive solely on wild ungulates—meaning no supplementary feeding with cattle carcasses.

Several states in India have created cattle-free tiger reserves, and it is fervently hoped that Gujarat—richer than many of these tiger-bearing states—can similarly establish a cattle-free Gir Lion NP. Stotra Chakrabarti, from the WII, who has studied lions for six years, rightly emphasizes that appropriate and effective conservation measures must involve local communities to protect the landscape beyond Gir from unregulated development. Promoting lion-based ecotourism outside the GPA, in a way that benefits local people, is a vital step in this direction.

Excerpted with permission from HarperCollins India.