Adding to growing concern surrounding man-animal conflict in the Amreli region, six people have been found to have entered the Gir national park illegally to watch the Asiatic lions in their natural habitat.
Of the six persons, three are reportedly locals and a hotelier who were helping two tourists to enter the reserved area of Sarasiya range forest without permission. The incident happened three weeks back.
“These tourists entered the forest area with the help of locals to watch lions. We fined three persons around three weeks back, and further investigation led to three more persons who were part of the gang that entered the forest illegally,” Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Gir East, Rajdeepsinh Zala said.
“When we questioned the locals caught three weeks back, they revealed a tourist and commercial angle to the incident. This led us to nab two tourists and a hotelier three days back and we fined them,” he said, adding that more people are likely to be involved in the offence.
Collectively the six people have been fined Rs 1.75 lakh for the offence under provisions of the Indian Forest Act and the Wildlife (Protection) Act,
According to the 2020 census, there were 674 lions in Gujarat, a 29 per cent increase in its population compared to the 2015 census.
The state has a total of 206 lions, 309 lionesses, 130 cubs and 29 unidentified big cats, as per the 2020 census.
