Gandhinagar, February 27 A total of 322 lions have died in Gujarat over the past two years, including 64 due to unnatural causes, state forest minister Arjun Modhwadia informed the assembly on Friday.
He was responding to a question raised by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar during Question Hour.
"A total of 165 lions died in 2024, another 148 in 2025, and nine died in January this year. Of these 322 lions, 64 died due to unnatural causes such as falling into wells or being hit by vehicles," the minister said.
The 64 comprise 41 adult lions and lionesses, 22 cubs, and one unidentified individual, Modhwadia said in his written reply.
The state government has taken various steps to prevent the unnatural deaths of big cats, including setting up centers for the treatment of wild animals at different locations, appointing veterinary doctors, and introducing an ambulance service for timely intervention and treatment of lions, he added.
Other measures include building speed bumps and installing signboards on roads passing through sanctuary areas, regular foot patrols in forests, building parapet walls for open wells near forests, and erecting fences on both sides of the railway track near the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, the minister informed the House.
Modhwadia said that radio-collaring of Asiatic lions has been done, a high-tech monitoring unit has been set up at Sasan, and quarantine zones have been created at the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh and at Saat Virda in the Barda region.
Other measures include the creation of Rapid Action Teams for wildlife rescue, round-the-clock patrolling by forest staff to prevent poaching, and the installation of CCTV cameras at four checkpoints within the sanctuary area, he said.
According to the 2025 census, the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas in Gujarat are home to 891 Asiatic lions, comprising 255 lions, 405 lionesses, and 231 cubs, said Modhwadia.