One more lion cub found dead near Pipavav port

AHMEDABAD: The forest department on Tuesday recovered yet another carcass of a lion cub near Pipavav port in Amreli district.

The cub's carcass was found about 200 metres from the place where a lion cub, which was hit by a goods train on Sunday, was found.

The carcass was eaten away by stray dogs from the area. Though the forest officials claim that the death could be an incident of infighting, locals said there is strong possibility of this cub dying in the same train accident on Sunday. It is likely that the cub would have been dragged by the stray animals from the area, they added.

The villagers claims that the lion cub that died on Sunday was from a pride of five that included two cubs, both of which have died.

On Sunday, the male cub, which was about seven months old, was found lying besides the track between Bherai and Pipavav port. At around 6am, some villagers spotted the carcass and informed the forest department officials, who reached the place.

Deputy conservator of forests, in charge of Amreli forest division, P Purushothama said, "This looks like an incident of infighting. The postmortem report will reveal the exact time of death and only then the department would be able to ascertain the cause of death."

He dismissed villagers' view that the cub found dead on Tuesday was from the group of five.

"We have identified and spotted the entire pride of which the cub that died on Sunday was a part," he said.

Purushothama added that the possibility of infighting seems more as for the last one week the department has spotted a nomad in the area who is trying to capture the territory.