A member of Cat Specialist Group, a Species Survival Commission set up by World Conservation Union, earlier known as International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Chavda says, the obvious solution is to create another home for the Asiatic lion before it is too late, at a distance from its present location.

Gujarat had the unique honour of housing four large cats: cheetah, tiger, leopard and lion. In the wake of poaching incidents knee-jerk reactions are not enough and will not deliver the desired results, he says.

Author of Hunting Leopard— Cheetah, "End of trail, the Cheetah in India", published by Oxford University Press and The Story of Asia's Lions published by MARG, Chavda says, "At the outset, the forest department's field staff must be strengthened by filling up positions lying vacant for several years for better patrolling.

They must have the permission to use their weapon against poachers and illegal entrants. The Assam government did this at Kaziranga National Park to protect the great Indian one-horned rhinoceros. From a dozen rhinos a hundred years ago, the count has increased to 1,800 lions now."

He says shifting few pairs of lions to Madhya Pradesh is also necessary keeping in mind the possibility of an epidemic in Gir, the main reason behind the big cat's extinction in Tanzania.

"Lions started dying large numbers in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania spread across in 8,000 sq km. The bloodsucking fly menace led to the deaths of 90 out of 100 lions within a few months in 1962. In another such incident in 1993, Serengeti Plains in North-East Tanzania, spread over 18,200 sq km, saw the death of about 1,000 big cats out of 4,000 as a result of a teak fever epidemic in a year," he says.

"If an epidemic spreads in Gir forest, it would be difficult to save the rare species of Asiatic lions as the Gir forest is only spread across 1,412 sq km," he adds.