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Gir: Last shelter of the Asian lion. Part 4

4,488 views · Published 11 November 2017 · 5:20 · Indexed 25 September 2026

Channel: Planet Doc Full Documentaries · 2017 · Film & Animation

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Asian lions started evolving differently from their African counterparts at some stage between 55,000 and 200,000 years ago. Now, the two subspecies have different genetic, osteological and morphological features the latter being obvious from the outside. The Asian lions have a characteristic crease on their stomachs, virtually non-existent in African lions. Although the lock of hair at the end of the tail is bigger in the Asian lion, the mane is much shorter than in the African lion: they are slightly smaller and as the population fell to a minimum of 20, their genetic variability has been lost. However, the characteristic which most distinguishes the two species of lion is their behaviour towards man.

Nowhere else in the world do men dare to set off in search of lions armed with nothing more than a stick.

The Gir guards patrol and observe the big cats walking through the forest without fear of being attacked. The lions camouflage themselves perfectly in the brown vegetation and tall grass so that encounters occur at very short distances. Nevertheless, the lions of Gir rarely behave aggressively towards humans.

Only young animals approach man with a sense of curiosity. Generally, the animal gets up and walks away quietly without showing fear when an intruder comes closer than what they judge to be a safe distance. But in the case of the more inquisitive and more enterprising young lions the safety distance is reduced and they come forward to view the guards or the members of the film crew more closely.

Inside Gir the lions do not pose any danger to humans, but outside the park, where livestock has devastated the pastures and there are few wild herbivores, the lions feed on domestic cattle and on occasion on the people who look after and protect them. From the middle of 1988 to the beginning of 1990 lions attacked people 100 times, usually when they went to try to save their livestock, and 15 people were devoured by the lions.

However, within the sanctuary there is a plentiful supply of food and the government pays the maldhari for the buffaloes that are killed by the lions so that they are not attacked despite the everyday co-existence between man and the lions.

This tolerance of men has saved the Asian lion from extinction in extremis. The Indian government is currently investigating the possibility of introducing new groups of lions into other parks. But if it is already difficult to fence off forested areas in a country where a thousand million people are struggling to obtain new fields to farm, then settling them with a super-predator like the Asian lion which puts people in danger will be a great deal more complicated. 

Today the forest of Gir protects the last bastion of a legendary animal. The number of lions in the park has reached the maximum limit that the eco-system can stand, and the lions need new settlements. But in an over-populated India, the job of finding new lands is getting more and more difficult. And today, Gir keeps hope alive for the forgotten Asian lion

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