Short communication
A conservation success story in the otherwise dire megafauna extinction crisis: The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) of Gir forest

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Abstract

Carnivores in Asia and throughout the world face high risk of extinction due to factors such as continued habitat loss and hunting. However, the Asiatic lion of Gir forest, India presents a conservation success story whose history may help to guide the recovery and conservation of other imperiled predators. Protection of core and satellite habitats and the relocation of pastoral communities and their livestock triggered forest recovery and coincident increases in native prey populations. Wild ungulate populations increased by 10-fold between 1970 and 2010, supporting an increase in the lion population from 180 animals in 1974 to 411 animals in 2010. Coincident with this increase, lions shifted their predation preferences from a diet composed of 75% livestock to one composed of just 25% livestock. This example demonstrates the value of native prey populations to sustain imperiled carnivore species, and the use of protected areas and livestock exclusion to maintain healthy prey populations.

Introduction

Biodiversity conservation in Asia faces major challenges. Continued threats from habitat conversion and hunting place tropical Asia at the top of the world’s most threatened regions (Sodhi et al., 2010). Within these imperiled habitats, large carnivores and other megafauna face high risk of extinction (Morrison et al., 2007), and these threatened species require immediate conservation intervention to ensure their continued survival. What rare conservation success stories exist must serve as examples to study and follow in order to protect other imperiled species facing similar threats.

The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) persists as one remaining population in and around Gir forest in the southwest part of Saurashtra region in the state of Gujarat, India. Although classified as endangered (Breitenmoser et al., 2008), the Asiatic lion has displayed a remarkable recovery in the past century, coming from the brink of extinction with an estimated population of just a few dozen individuals at the beginning of the 20th century to a population of over 400 individuals today (Singh, 2007). The management history of this species may reveal valuable lessons to guide conservation efforts for other carnivores in tropical Asia and worldwide.

In this paper, we examined population changes of Asiatic lions in relation to availability of native prey and domestic livestock and to the management of lion habitat in the Gir forest. We predicted that lion population size would be positively related to the abundance of native prey species and consequently to the protection of lion habitat in the Gir forest. This study reveals the importance of managing healthy prey populations in order to sustain threatened top predators.

Section snippets

Study region

Asiatic lions occupy remnant forest habitats in the state of Gurajat, India. Two hill systems in this region, Gir and Girnar, comprise Gurajat’s largest tracts of dry deciduous forest, thorny forest, and savanna, which provide valuable habitat for a diverse flora and fauna that includes several endangered species (Fig. 1; Singh and Kamboj, 1996). These habitats also support the highest concentration of top carnivores in India, with over 600 lions and leopards (Panthera pardus; Singh, 2007,

Population changes of native prey species and livestock

Following Maldhari resettlement, native prey populations in Gir forest increased (Table 1). Immediately prior to resettlement, Joslin (1973) estimated a total of 5600 wild ungulates in 1969–1970, and Berwick (1974) estimated a similarly low population of 6400 individuals in 1970–1971. In 1974, the Forest Department estimated the wild ungulate population to be 9650 individuals. This population grew consistently in subsequent surveys, reaching 31,490 in 1990 and 64,850 in 2010 (consisting of

Conclusions

Following the creation of several protected areas and the resettlement of pastoral communities and their livestock outside protected lion habitat, wild ungulate populations in Gir forest increased by 10-fold. This impressive growth in prey base appears to explain the coincident increase in lion numbers, which more than doubled in the same time period. This explanation is supported by the proportional decrease in lion predation on livestock, which previously comprised 75% of the lion’s diet but

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of forest officials, especially the staff of Wildlife Circle, Junagadh for providing data on maldharis, livestock, and wildlife censuses. Dr. Dinsesh Misra, IFS, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest provided helpful suggestions on a draft of the manuscript. Dr. Sandeep Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Wildlife, Sasan shared the findings of a recent study on predation patterns of the Asiatic lion. Finally, we thank the many Gir

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