Lion found dead in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary

AMRELI (Gujarat) : An eight-year-old lion was found dead in Dhari forest range of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in the second such incident in less than a week, forest officials said.

The body was recovered a couple of days ago by some villagers in Khamba taluka, they said.

According to the officials, the big cat could have died of some disease but the exact cause will be known only after the post-mortem.

The taluka from where the body was recovered falls in the eastern part of the Sanctuary, the last abode of Asiatic lions in the world.

A 10-year-old lion was found dead near Pipalva village in the same taluka on October 15 and forest officials had said the wild cat had died of old age.

According to the last lion census conducted in 2005, there were 359 lions in the Gir region.