The scientific name of Asiatic Lion is Panthera Leo Persica. Sources say other committee members said the necessary studies had been conducted and that all studies recommended by the IUCN were not a precondition for translocation.Asiatic Lion (Indian Lion, Panthera Leo Persica) Asiatic Lion in India By 2014, Modi had become the Prime Minister.Īt the committee meetings, Gujarat kept insisting that more than two dozen studies recommended by the IUCN (a body called the International Union for Conservation of Nature) for such translocation projects be conducted in Kuno before lions are translocated. The Court also directed the MoEF to constitute an expert committee consisting of senior officials, chief wildlife wardens of Gujarat and MP, and technical experts, WII scientist Prof Yadvendradev Jhala, wildlife biologist and conservation scientist Ravi Chellam etc.Īccordingly, the Centre formed a committee, which met six times, the last time as far back as December 2016. It went on to order the translocation of lions to Kuno within six months “to save it from extinction, due to catastrophes like epidemic, large forest fire etc”.
“Scientific reasoning for its (lion) re-location has to supersede the family bond or pride of the people and we have to look at the species best interest, especially in a situation where the specie is found to be a critically endangered one and the necessity of a second home has been keenly felt.” The Court advocated an “eco-centric” view in the matter, “not human-centric or family-centric”. The cardinal issue is not whether the Asiatic lion is a ‘family member’ or is part of the ‘Indian culture and civilization’, or the pride of a State, but the preservation of an endangered species for which we have to apply the ‘species best interest standard’.” We are, however, concerned with a fundamental issue whether the Asiatic lions should have a second home. In its April 15, 2013, judgment, the Bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and Chandramauli Prasad, while rejecting Gujarat’s argument, observed: “… State of Gujarat can be justifiably proud of the fact that it has preserved an endangered species becoming extinct. The SBWL said that it, “therefore, did not agree with the proposal for translocation of lions from Gujarat to Kuno”. SBWL further maintained the stand that Asiatic Lion being a ‘family member’ is beyond and higher than the ‘scientific reasoning’.”Īlso Read | 283 lions, 333 leopards died in state in two yrs: Gujarat Govt “… the issue of giving or not giving lions to Kuno is not an issue of conflict between states, but it is a collective Indian cultural approach in the interest of long-term conservation of lions as part of our family. In this report, the Gujarat government also referred to the lions as its family. It was pointed out that the present Asiatic lion population has risen from a broad-based and a reasonably good population has been achieved.” In conclusion, “there is no necessity of finding a second home for the Asiatic lion at Kuno”. As per the Supreme Court order, its report said: “… there was no threat to Asiatic Lion in the Gir forest from epidemic diseases or other such factors. Therefore, in February 2012, the SC directed the SBWL to consider the lion translocation issue and submit a report.Īccordingly, the SBWL held a meeting in March 2012. The Gujarat official said that lions prefer habitats with temperatures below 42 degrees Celsius, and that in Kuno, these exceeded 45 degrees for a number of days a year.Īnother contention by Gujarat was that while the NBWL was seized of the matter, the issue was never placed before Gujarat’s State Board for Wildlife (SBWL), and that such matters require its consent. It also argued that Kuno was home to six to eight tigers and that co-existence of large cats of almost equal size was unlikely.
At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the NBWL, the Chief Wildlife Warden of Gujarat informed the Board about steps the state government was taking to protect lions and their habitats. In November 2008, the Supreme Court directed that the proposal of translocation be sent to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and that the Board hear both Gujarat and MP. In response, the Modi government in the state announced a Rs 40-crore five-year action plan for lion conservation.Ī couple of months later, in August 2007, then environment and forest minister of Gujarat “indicated that it was not possible for the state government to agree to the proposal for creation of a second home at Kuno… for Asiatic lions”. In March-April 2007, even as Gujarat was under pressure over the translocation issue, eight lions were poached in Gir by a gang including members from MP.
0 kommentar(er)
