Guj: Three lions rescued near Rajkot city; transported to Gir

A pride of three Asiatic lionsthat had strayed out of its natural habitat at Gujarat's Girforest and reached near Rajkot city, was rescued and relocatedon Wednesday, an official from the forest department said.

The three lions had travelled more than 100 km fromGir forest to reach Rajkot taluka and had been camping in thesurrounding areas over the last one month, said DushyantVasavada, chief conservator of forests (Wildlife), Junagadh.

The animals were rescued by a forest team and shiftedto Gir, where they will be released in the wild soon, theofficial said.

During their stint in Rajkot for over a month, thelions were spotted in different villages close to humansettlements, some not very far from the city, causing panic,he said.

The pride reached very close to Rajkot city and wasrecently spotted near Aji Dam on the outskirts, he said.

According to local forest officials, the lions werefirst spotted in villages of Jasdan taluka in the district andwere also seen in villages of Rajkot taluka, where they preyedupon cattle.

A rescue team with the experience of handling lionswas called in from Gir and the lions were captured in separatecages on Wednesday morning and taken to the forest, Vasavadasaid.

One of the lions had a radio collar on, which helpedthe forest department to keep an eye on the pride, he said.

As per the latest census conducted last year, Gujarathas witnessed a 29 per cent rise in the population of Asiaticlions.

The ''Poonam Avlokan (full-moon night estimationexercise)'' carried out in June last year showed that theAsiatic lion population reached 674.

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