Spread over 3,44,686 sq km in the Sheopur district of MP, Kuno already boasts of tigers, leopards, wolves etc. Gir, on the other hand, is repeatedly facing the problem of man-animal conflicts with the burgeoning population of Asiatic lions. The translocation of lions from Gujarat's Gir to MP's PalpurKuno Wildlife Sanctuary has been delayed by over three years despite a Supreme Court order.

TREAT TIGERS AS DEITIES

Madhya Pradesh has responded to most of the concerns raised by Gujarat Government on the welfare of the displaced animals and assured their care. It has also made an emotional appeal addressing the people of the State to treat tigers as "deities", which will soon develop a cultural bond with the lions.

The MP Government has said, "Madhya Pradesh is a very nature-friendly State, where man and animal share the same space in and around the protected areas. In many of areas where there is no forest, blackbucks stay in agricultural fields. Even then, human settlements around the area really do not show much antagonism towards them."

"The Bagh Dev is a common sight in many of human settlements in and around tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh, wherein people give a deity status to the tigers around and adore them. Therefore, once the lions are reintroduced at Kuno, the cultural bond between lions and human beings will get established the natural way," Madhya Pradesh government replies to the issues raised by the Gujarat administration.

MADHYA PRADESH GOVERNMENT'S LETTER TO THE UNION MINISTRY

In the letter to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the MP government cited the 2015 floods in parts of Amreli Bhavnagar area of the State, which "resulted in washing out of more than 1,600 nilgais, 90 spotted deer and 10 Asiatic lions".

"Hence, I request you to immediately kick-start the execution of the Supreme Court's order dated April 15, 2013," it added.

The copy of the communication and other details were received in response to an RTI query filed by wildlife activist Ajay Dubey, who is at the forefront of the campaign to move lions to Madhya Pradesh. The reintroduction plan of lions in Madhya Pradesh had faced stiff opposition from Gujarat.

In April 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered shifting of some of lions to Kuno.

The Court had directed the Environment Ministry to shift them by October, 2013. The PalpurKuno sanctuary, under Sheopur district of Gwalior division, has been chosen as the second home for Gir's Asiatic lions.