There are more than 5,000 men in Saurashtra region wearing lion paws, said Babra BJP MLA Bavkubhai Unghad in House on Tuesday. The allegation came a day after Forest Department confirmed that two lionesses and a cub had been killed by poachers.
Unghad was speaking on his special calling attention motion in the Assembly on the issue of two lion cub deaths in Dhari (Amreli) on February 24, much to the chagrin of Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel.
In his speech, Unghad said it was fashionable in Saurashtra to wear lion paws, and sought to know from the government whether it intended to investigate a possible connection between the increasing lion deaths and the trend.
On February 24, two lion cubs were found drowned in a 60-feet deep well from the fields of one Jilubhai Jebalia in Gadhia village of Dhari taluka. The village falls in the Dalkhani range of the Gir (East) forest division.
Unghad informed the House that from the site of the incident, the forest officials also found marks of a four-wheeler. According to the MLA, despite complaints, the foresters have failed to investigate the possibility of the cubs falling and dying in the well after being chased by some people.
In response to the motion, Mangubhai Patel, told the House that the site of the incident was 5-6 kms from the sanctuary boundary, and that following government intervention, any connection between the vehicle marks and the cub deaths was now being investigated.
During the debate on the same issue, in response to a question raised by BJP MLA Sunil Oza, the minister said that in the last five years, Gir sanctuary has reported 37 similar incidents with 19 lions dying after falling into wells. Against this, 18 big cats were saved from drowning by the efforts of the foresters.
On a query by Palitana MLA Mansukh Mandavia, Patel said Gir sanctuary has 275 wells, of which 198 have been covered and another 77 fenced by the forest department to prevent lions from falling into them. Also, another 637 wells that lie immediately outside the sanctuary area have also been covered, said Patel.
As per the official version about the Dhari incident, as explained by the minister in the House, at the time of the incident, a lioness with its six cubs was eating a dead blue bull killed by a pride a couple of days ago. The two cubs moved towards the well and fell into it.