13th lion found dead in Gir
A two-month-old lion cub died after falling into a well in the Dedakadi range of the forest, reports Haresh Pandya.
A two-month-old lion cub died after falling into a well in the Dedakadi range of the Gir forest in Gujarat on Friday.
“It was an accident. A lioness and her cubs were feasting on a kill near the well. One cub climbed on to the parapet covering the well and fell. It was dead when the rescue team got there,” deputy conservator of forest Ram Kumar said on Saturday.
This is the 13th official lion death, natural or otherwise, in Saurashtra for 2006. Most of the 12 deaths in the region this year were due to natural causes. In some cases, the lions died of pneumonia while a few of them died of old age. Some of them fell into open wells.
However, missing claws on some carcasses look like the handiwork of poachers. Following the death of a cub after falling into an open well in February, a case was registered against some tribals under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for illegally digging up the well in a prohibited area of the sanctuary.
