Two male lions, which had lost their way and entered Diu, were rescued by the Gujarat forest department on February 10 and returned to the wild. The incident is not a one-off, officials said, as an increase in the number of such cases has been noticed in recent months. From being on the verge of extinction, Asiatic lions in Gir have seen a dramatic return, and today their number has crossed 700. There are 674 lions in Gujarat as per the recent census carried out in 2020—a handsome 29% rise from 523 counted in 2015. With the lion population still increasing, the restricted space in the Gir sanctuary has become an issue. The sanctuary has reached its carrying capacity, and the lions have started to move outside the protected area in search of new lands and resources. This range extension has involved lions spreading to various districts of Saurashtra, such as Girnar, Mitiyala, and Pania sanctuaries, and coastal tracts and the bordering areas of Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.
