Gir Forest Lion Poachers Imprisoned in India

Gir Forest Lion Poachers Imprisoned in India



October 2008 - Twenty people have been 
sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined for poaching endangered 
lions in the Gir Forest and trading in their parts, in a case that has no 
precedent in the judicial history of wildlife crime in India. 
Inspector General of Police Keshav Kumar, who led the investigations, 
said, "This is the first known case in India in which the lions were 
hunted for trade." 
The Court of P.K. Makuuana, I class magistrate, in Junagadh handed down 
the jail sentences on Thursday and in addition ordered each defendant to 
pay a fine of Rs 10,000, about US$200. 
Public prosecutor J.M. Sakanpara said, "The accused were arrested for 
poaching six Asiatic lions from Gir and illegal possession of wildlife 
articles. Two lion claws were recovered from the main accused Kuntar Singh 
and Nanaka Singh during their arrest in April last year." 
The remaining 18 defendants were arrested based on the information 
provided by Kuntar and Nanaka Singh. The accused remained in judicial 
custody throughout the trial, following denial of their bail plea by the 
High Court. 

"The hunting was reportedly carried out on March 3 and March 29 last year. 
They had disclosed trade in body parts as the motive for hunting," said 
Sakanpara. 
Saurabh Sharma, advocate of the Wildlife Trust of India, who provided 
legal assistance to the prosecution said, "This is a first-of-a-kind case 
in which so many people have been convicted at a time in a wildlife case." 

"Even the duration of the trial was relatively expeditious for a wildlife 
case," said Sharma. "Within 18 months of the crime, the accused have been 
brought to justice." 
Wildlife Trust of India Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar congratulated the 
authorities on the arrest and conviction of the defendants, saying, "This 
is a historic moment for all wildlife conservationists." 
The Asiatic lion, Panthera leo persica, once ranged throughout the coastal 
forests of northern Africa and from northern Greece across southwest Asia 
to eastern India. Today, the only living representatives of these lions 
occur in and around the Gir Forest. 
The unique lions are threatened by poaching for bones, used in traditional 
Chinese medicine, and claws, used as amulets. Death from electrocution and 
from being trapped in open wells is also common, says Kumar. 
Gir Forest is one of the largest compact tracts of dry deciduous forests 
in the semi-arid western part of India. Apart from being the only home of 
the last surviving natural gene pool of the Asiatic lion, it is the 
catchment area for seven major rivers and provides ecological security and 
water for the drought prone region of Saurashtra.

The Gujarat Forest Department explains that conservation measures like 
launching of the Gir Lion Sanctuary Project in the early 1970s, suspending 
logging operations and declaring the core area to be a national park, 
resettlement of maldharis families of nomadic herdsmen and the shifting of 
their livestock, and the payment of compensation in cases of livestock 
killing and human death by carnivores have had a "positive impact on the 
ecosystem." 
The forest department has also established check posts, introduced a 
wireless communication network, and deployed vehicles and weapons to 
control the movement of people and livestock in the protected area. 
Still, the Asiatic lions are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of 
Threatened Species. 
"The Gir population is insecure for two reasons," A.J.T. Johnsingh, a 
wildlife expert with the Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysore told the 
"Deccan Herald" newspaper in September. "Firstly, "the population has 
risen from a very low number leading to inbreeding and a genetically 
homozygous population. Reduced genetic diversity affects reproductive 
health of the species and increases mortality of the young." 
Secondly, "an epidemic could wipe out the population," Johnsingh said. 
On an average, 25 to 30 lion deaths have been reported every year for the 
past three years, yet the lion population in the Gir Forest is beyond the 
protected area's carrying capacity, wildlife experts say. 
A survey conducted in 2005 estimated a population of 359 lions in and 
around the forest. By comparison a 1990 census counted some 221 adult 
lions living within the protected area, with 30 to 40 other lions living 
outside. 
Since 2002, wildlife scientist Y.V. Jhala has radio collared 18 lions, to 
track their movement. "Radio collaring has shown," he told the newspaper, 
"lions have set up meta-populations outside Gir for want of space, or 
food." 
Today, farmers grow mango, groundnuts and sugarcane adjacent to the Gir 
Forest, increasing land values and depleting groundwater and putting more 
pressure on the lion population. 
In response to the movement of lions beyond the protected area, the 
Gujarat Forest Department is working to widen its protective circle. 
"Biotic pressures in the form of grazing, collection of other forest 
produce, vehicular traffic, tourism and pilgrims etc. are very high and 
require additional efforts in order conserve the biodiversity for 
posterity," the forest department says on its website. 
Now, the Central Zoo Authority and the National Tiger Conservation 
Authority have prepared a breeding plan to strengthen the lion population. 
Pure-bred first generation Asiatic lions will be selected from different 
zoos to breed in a large natural enclosure at Kuno. 
Herbivores will be supplied as prey so that second generation lions can 
develop hunting skills. Wildlife experts believe that the third generation 
lions will be fit to survive in the wild.





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