'Human Assisted Dispersal' of lions will be a very good development

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India's recent judgment permitting translocation of some of the endangered Asiatic lions from Gujarat's Gir National Park to Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh is considered to be a good and essential step for the long-term survival of the species. BNHS India, terms this type of re-introduction as ' Human Assisted Dispersal', which means re-introduction of a species to some part of its former range through human intervention. BNHS is of the opinion that many other threatened species can be conserved using this approach wherever it is necessary and appropriate to do so.

The re-introduction of Asiatic lions in some part of their former range, which once existed from West Asia to eastern parts of India, has long been debated at various levels. Commenting on the re-introduction of Asiatic lions in Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary, Dr Asad Rahmani, director, BNHS said, "It is a very good development and we welcome the move. Relocating some lions is a wonderful idea for the long-term survival of the species and should have been done much earlier."

Explaining the rationale, he added that the region where the re-introduction would take place was formerly a part of the natural range of Asiatic lions.