Overview
- A cluster of lion attacks in Saurashtra has raised alarm, including the July 11 killing of an 11-year-old on the Girnar steps and multiple incidents in Amreli that left five people dead and two injured.
- The state's 2025 census recorded 891 Asiatic lions, a 32% rise since 2020, with animals now occupying about 35,000 square kilometres across 11 districts and roughly 3,400 villages.
- A peer-reviewed study published in Conservation analysed 160 scat samples and found wild prey made up 64% of coastal lions’ diet and about 70% of the biomass consumed, with nilgai accounting for roughly 51% of biomass.
- Forest officials say some attacks occurred after lions were disturbed by people using torchlights, vehicles or loud noises and the government has deployed additional trackers, expanded thermal-drone patrols, set up more checkposts, made arrests for harassment and declared parts of pilgrimage routes silent zones.
- Authorities and researchers say boosting wild-prey populations and managing abandoned cattle could reduce conflicts while the measures now in place aim to protect communities and allow the expanding lion population to persist outside protected forests.