At the Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat, 130 lion cubs have set a record. They’ve clocked the park as having the highest number of Asiatic Lions in the world since 1936 – a total population of 650.
The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) has had a hard few centuries. Since the advent of firearms, they were hunted mercilessly along with their African cousins. Maharajas and Europeans decimated their numbers – over one hundred lions are said to have been slain by Maharao Raja Bishan Singh of Bundi, Andrew Fraser is said to have killed over 84 lions, George Acland Smith is said to have shot over 50 lions in 1857-58.
By 1907, only 13 remained on the subcontinent. The low figure is contested, suspected to have been a publicized shocker to the effect of discouraging hunting – contrasting figures from the time suggest that around 70-100 were in existence.
The province of Junagadh was one such lion stronghold administered by the Nawab of Junagadh. Once a haven of bandits, it became a wildland where the Nawab took his European friends to hunt. But as rumours of the big cat’s extinction grow louder, he banned hunting briefly in 1901. A period followed where the lions mauled several animals and humans – and so hunting was restored in 1904.
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