With the Supreme Court allowing the translocation of Asiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh (MP), the forest department is mulling its future course of action. “We are yet to receive the copy of the judgment. We will take suitable action after going through it. It will not be right to comment on it before that,” said HK Das, principal secretary, environment and forests.
When asked if the Gujarat government would seek a review of the order, Das said all of it will be decided after getting a copy of the order.
The bench of justice KS Radhakrishnan and justice CK Prasad, while passing the order, said that the lion was under threat of extinction and needed a second home. It gave six months to the authorities to translocate the lions.
How it all began
In early 1990s, the concern regarding losing the entire lion population to an epidemic or natural calamity led to a search for a second home. The Wildlife Institute of India carried out a survey in 1993-94 and zeroed in on Kuno-Palpur Sanctuary and its adjoining forests in Sheopur district of MP. A lion reintroduction project was thus put on track. “The main attraction of such a project was that it would lead to having panthers, tigers and lions — all at one place. A coup of sorts and something that no other state could boast of,” said GA Patel, former chief wildlife warden of Gujarat, who strongly opposed the move from the outset. According to him, though initially the wildlife warden (Patel) was a member of the project, the officials never kept him in the loop. “It was later that we came to know of it and I even opposed the same in the National Board of Wildlife meeting that was chaired by prime minister Manmohan Singh,” said Patel. He said that on two occasions, members from the environment ministry had sought an audience with chief minister Narendra Modi to try to convince him to part with the lions but Modi had refused. “It was at this point that a PIL was filed and it reached the Supreme Court,” said Patel.
Why state opposed it
Safety of Lions: While the CM chose to play up the shifting of the lions as a matter of Gujarati pride, the concerns of the state were more to do with the security of the big cat. It argued that MP had failed to prevent poaching of tigers. “MP has had a poor track record in protecting its tigers; how could it be expected to protect the lions which are far more human-friendly animals than tigers? Unlike a tiger, which is more cunning, a lion will not attack humans unless disturbed. This means they are more likely to be targeted by poachers,” said Patel. Pradeep Khanna, former principal chief conservator of forests, said the lions’ safety was a genuine concern of Gujarat. “There is a cultural aspect… people in and around the sanctuary love the cats. Their tolerance and patience in dealing with the big cats is a big contribution to the lion conservation story of Gujarat,” said Khanna.
According to Patel, such an attitude could not be expected in MP. “There, the moment an attack on livestock or humans by a lion is reported, the overriding attitude would be to kill the cat and not let it go as is the case here,” said Patel. Not everyone, though, agrees. “They are free to put forth their argument. But the fact is that the SC has ruled in favour of moving the lions, despite such arguments,” said an expert who has closely monitored the issue but refused to come on record as he had not read the judgment.
A tiger territory: Another argument of Gujarat has been that Kuno-Palpur is a tiger territory and lions and tigers cannot live together. “Lion and tiger are both at the top of their respective food chains. There is no way the two can live in once place. There is the problem of panthers as well. You show me a place anywhere in the world where lions and tigers have lived together. It is a recipe for disaster,” said Patel. Wildlife experts, on the other hand, argue that lions and tigers did co-exist a long time ago and there is no reason why it cannot happen again. Patel, however, does not buy the argument. “The lion reintroduction project happened twice in India… in both the cases, the lions disappeared without a trace,” he said.
Was Guj stand weak?
The Gujarat forest department’s overriding concern was the safety of lions but Patel believes that poor posturing may have had an adverse impact on the case. “It all became a matter of Gujarati pride. It turned out to be an emotional issue and I believe we did not represent our case well-enough. It should have been cold, fact-based arguments instead of whether Gujarat wanted to part with ‘its’ lion or not,” said Patel. I had even written to the authorities about the same. Khanna, however, did not concur. “The posturing that you refer to is what the common person understood. But in court, we presented fact-based arguments and looked into all the technical aspects as well,” he said.
