NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MARCH 1
A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) study has red-flagged a major concern over diminishing hunting skills in younger lions due to cubs being increasingly fed with dumped carcasses in tourism zones.
The issue was raised in the study titled ‘Spatially Explicit Density and Its Determinants For Asiatic Lion In Gir Forest’ which has a density of 8.5 lions per 100 sq km area in the western part of Gir protected sanctuary. The study, published recently, was conducted by researchers Y V Jhala, Keshav Gogoi, Kausik Banerjee and Ujjwal Kumar who spotted 67 lions in 368 sightings.
The researchers expressed surprise that contrary to earlier studies based on the lion diet, which found the big cat mainly survived on natural prey base, the distribution of lions was found to be skewed. Instead of being close to the natural prey base of the wild, including chital and sambar, a significant number of lions were found in the tourism zone, The Sunday Times reported.
“This was likely as lions in the tourism zone got assured food through provisioning and natural prey probably did not regulate lion movement or density,” stated the study. It mentioned how Maldharis dump their cattle outside their homes to prevent lion attacks and enhance tourism. The carcasses are also used by forest officials to attract lions in tourism zones.
“Easy prey is turning lions into scavengers rather than predators. The 250 sq km area of Gir national park is the only area where lions survive on ungulates. In the rest they survive on human subsidy,” said Jhala. More alarmingly, the study found that many younger lions had compromised hunting skills. “In many prides that were provisioned, younger lions were observed to lack the predatory skills required to hunt, as cubs were fed with dumped carcasses with regularity and grew up as scavengers,” the study said.
“Animals that lack skills to hunt often come in conflict with humans, as after they disperse from the tourism zone and are no longer provisioned they try to kill livestock (easier prey) and can also become a danger to human lives,” the study warned.
