Once found in other parts of the world and in पूर्वी (poorvi/eastern) and मध्य (madhya/central) India, it is now believed to make its विशेष (vishesh/exclusive) domain within the confines of the गिर वन राष्ट्रीय उद्यान (Gir van raashtriya udyaan/Gir Forest National Park) in Gujarat.

By Nikunj vasoya – During My visit to Gir Forest, CC BY-SA 3.0

According to recent news reports, a large number (बड़ी संख्या/badi sankhya) of Asiatic lions की मृत्यु हो गई (ki mrutyu ho gayi /died) in the past year, under reportedly अप्राकृतिक (a-praakrutik/unnatural) परिस्थितियों में (paristhitiyon mein/under … circumstances). Some of these included death from falling into खुले कुओं (khule ku-on/open wells) and electrocution from contact with बिजली (bijli/electric) के (ke/of) बाड़ (baad/fences) put up by farmers for protection from the lions.

The Gujarat High Court was motioned to जांच (jaanch/investigate) this matter through a सार्वजनिक हित (saarvajanik hita/public interest) मुकदमा (mukadama/litigation) filed by Biren Pandya, a वन्यजीव (vanyajeev/wildlife) कार्यकर्ता (kaaryakarta/activist).

In a related matter, a public interest litigation was ordered by the Gujarat HC’s own initiative, to look into the reported death of 182 Asiatic lions in the last 2 years. The Gujarat HC ordered (आदेश दिया/aadesh diya) the state government to implement सुरक्षा (suraksha/safety) उपाय (upaay/measures) like building walls around open wells, as well as प्रगति की निगरानी करें (pragati ki nigrani karen/monitor progress) of these measures. Fund allocations per animal were questioned by the HC as were the state’s policies on preventive care and टीकाकरण (teekakaraN/vaccination) of the lions against घातक बीमारी (ghaatak beemari/fatal disease).