That results in a deeper question: Can these apex predators coexist, both with each other and the people living around them? \u201cLions are not restricted to forests,\u201d says conservationist Abi Vanak. \u201cThey are using farmlands, plantations \u2014 wherever there is prey and shelter. These lions aren\u2019t afraid of humans. They will walk right through towns.\u201d <\/p>\n You\u2019d think that they shouldn\u2019t have to care for state borders, yet, lions still remain boxed into Gujarat. <\/p>\n \u201cLions have steadily expanded across the Saurashtra peninsula, but are not yet close to the neighbouring states. At the current rate of expansion, however, this could only be a matter of time,\u201d says Vanak. The worry now: How long will things stay that way? Gujarat is clearly getting crowded.<\/p>\n In 2018, the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary (with roughly 350 sq km of area) was upgraded to national park status, with a total area of 748.76 sq km.<\/p>\n The translocation of lions was part of a major conservation initiative with one clear goal: To establish a second, wild population of Asiatic lions outside of Gujarat. Wildlife biologists, along with the Wildlife Institute of India<\/a>, recommended this step to reduce the species\u2019 extinction risk \u2014 a standard conservation practice to avoid single-population vulnerabilities. <\/p>\n After an extensive site selection process, Kuno emerged as an additional area like Gir, thanks to its large contiguous forest cover, similar habitat and a strong prey base. <\/p>\n But the lions were never moved into Kuno. <\/p>\n The reasons are varied, with political resistance, inter-state dynamics, and bureaucratic delays, all playing a part. Years passed. In 2013, the Supreme Court<\/a> ordered their translocation within six months. Even so, Gujarat, which looks at lions as a symbol of state pride, hasn\u2019t translocated them.<\/p>\n It\u2019s now 2025, and Kuno still has no lions. \u201cThis is no longer about science. It\u2019s about upholding the law. Everything else is just delay and distraction,\u201d says Ravi Chellam, a long-time advocate for lion translocation. Meanwhile in Gujarat, a few lions have moved into Barda Wildlife Sanctuary and both the state and Union governments are claiming that it is the lions\u2019 second home. \u201cBarda is only 100 km from Gir, not far enough to isolate extinction risks. It\u2019s a positive step, but not a substitute for Kuno\u201d, says Chellam. <\/p>\n \u201cIn Gujarat, people are used to living with lions,\u201d counters Vanak. \u201cIf lions move to Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra<\/a>, the reaction could be very different.\u201d It remains to be seen how many lions Barda can absorb.<\/p>\n Instead of lions, Kuno now hosts African cheetahs, introduced to India in 2022. So, can lions even be translocated into Kuno anymore? Each of these big cats have unique habitat needs. Each reacts differently to humans. But all need one thing: Space. <\/p>\n The counter to that is that they can coexist. \u201cLions do kill cheetahs,\u201d says YV Jhala, former dean, Wildlife Institute of India. \u201cBut so do leopards and tigers. In fact, leopards are a far more formidable foe to cheetahs. Introducing lions into Kuno may help reduce leopard dominance.\u201d <\/p>\n PROBLEMATIC GENETICS Another problem lurking is that all Gir lions descend from a small number. \u201cGenetic diversity underpins adaptability \u2014 especially as climate change and new pathogens emerge. Creating satellite populations helps reduce catastrophic risk, but it won\u2019t fix inbreeding unless we introduce fresh genetic diversity from elsewhere,\u201d says Bertola. Chellam acknowledges the issue. \u201cWe know the genetic diversity is low. But so far, there\u2019s no strong evidence of compromised fertility or cub survival. Still, it\u2019s a red flag we must not ignore,\u201d he says. CO-EXISTENCE OR COLLISION? Wait and watch is not an option. India\u2019s protected parks are divided by highways, farms and cities. In such a fragmented land, natural dispersal is slow and risky.<\/p>\n That means translocation has to be enforced by humans. \u201cIn historical times, lions entered India from Persia and could disperse across the Gangetic plains, Deccan<\/a> and western India without any barriers. Today, this is not possible due to human land uses and barriers. Therefore, in the best interest of the Asiatic lions as a species, human-aided reintroductions based on the principles of Conservation Biology<\/a> should be implemented,\u201d says Jhala. <\/p>\n As apex predators increase, so do human-wildlife conflicts. Conservation Biology reports a 10% rise in villages reporting livestock attacks, and a 15% annual increase in livestock kills. <\/p>\n COEXISTENCE ISN\u2019T IMPOSSIBLE \u201cCommunities that have coexisted with lions adapt better. Others need time, education, and incentives to tolerate large carnivores, reckons Jhala. Eco-tourism, local conservation programmes and cross-state corridors could become critical, and policy has to keep pace with the population. That is the only way to preserve and protect all ways of life, wild and human.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First, the good news. India\u2019s conservation efforts are working. The population of lions, tigers, leopards \u2014 even newly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":185590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3847],"tags":[66865,76065,76060,76064,76063,76062,76059,76061,70,15985,16,15,1717,67381],"class_list":["post-185589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-conservation-biology","tag-deccan","tag-kuno","tag-kuno-wildlife-division","tag-leo-foundation","tag-lion-census","tag-madhya-pradesh","tag-madhya-pradesh-or-maharashtra","tag-science","tag-supreme-court","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wildlife","tag-wildlife-institute-of-india"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114685760302977413","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
This conundrum is best exemplified by the issues triggered by India\u2019s Asiatic lion population, which, according to data released two weeks ago, surged by a third in just the past five years.![\"Big](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/et-logo.jpg\" "\\"Big"){kind=logo}
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Live EventsPRIDE OF THE PACK India\u2019s lion population was just 674 in 2020, which, as per the latest Lion Census<\/a>, 2025, is now at 891. That\u2019s nearly triple their numbers in 2000. Similar growth has been seen for other cats too.
These are predators, they need their space. Gujarat\u2019s lions, once clinging to survival, now face a different kind of risk \u2014 running out of room.
\u201cAs numbers rise rapidly, conflict with people can spike \u2014 especially when older or young males are pushed out. We must invest in conflict mitigation and healthy prey bases so lions and communities can coexist,\u201d says Laura Bertola, Leo Foundation<\/a>, who works towards the protection of lions in Africa and India.
LIONS ON THE MOVE The growing lion population is already pushing into agricultural fields, plantations and village edges. They are being sighted in areas like Jetpur, Babra-Jasdan and Mityala, which now hosts 32 lions, double from 2020. <\/p>\n
THE KUNO CONUNDRUM Back in 1998, over 1,280 sq km was demarcated as the Kuno Wildlife Division<\/a>, in Madhya Pradesh. The area was cleared of villages, livelihoods uprooted, and was stocked with wild prey \u2014 specifically for lions. <\/p>\n
JUNGLE POLITICS The increasing numbers and the need for translocation creates another issue. Even if they are moved, lions entering new landscapes \u2014 especially where tigers, leopards, or cheetahs already exist \u2014 might bring forth co-existence challenges, at the landscape level.<\/p>\n