Tweet
Forest official records Gir’s pride!
A forest official in the Gir wildlife sanctuary has created a record of sorts by photographing as many as 14 Asiatic lions together at one spot.
The Gir National Park and Sanctuary, spread over 1,412 square kilometres of Junagadh and Amreli districts of Saurashtra region in Gujarat, is the last natural habitat of the Asiatic lion. Unlike the other reserved forests where wild animals are dwindling, the number of Asiatic lions in Gir have gone up from 305 in 1995 to 411 in 2010.
The 14 Asiatic lions photographed together by Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr Sandeep Kumar could be the largest gathering of big cats ever clicked by any one. But Sandeep Kumar would not hazard a guess. “In India, it is definitely a record”, Dr Sandeep Kumar, DCF, told the The Pioneer on phone from Gir, adding that he has no idea about the world record.
Kumar said that the photograph was clicked on December 15 towards the evening, around 5.00 p.m. an hour before sunset. The DCF of Gir had actually clicked 600 snaps at that spot since early morning that day when only ten lions were present there. Two more came in the early afternoon followed by another pair later.
As many as 18 lions were present at the spot when the lot of 14 were clicked but the others could not be included in the frame as they were sitting nearly hundred metres away in different directions, Sandeep Kumar told The Pioneer on Tuesday.
Asked why almost all the lions are looking at one side, Sandeep Kumar said that animals turn towards the direction where there is any movement or any sound emanates from.
Earlier, the maximum number of lions could be clicked at one place was eleven. The photograph of eleven lions, including cubs, drinking water from a small pond was taken by Kumar’s predecessor, the then DCF B.P.Pati in 1998.
Present DCF Sandeep Kumar had also taken the now famous photo of a lion family’s unsuccesful struggle to force open a pangolin which had sphered up itself to save his life from the predators. “That was a struggle between the prey and the predator”, the DCF commented.
A forest official in the Gir wildlife sanctuary has created a record of sorts by photographing as many as 14 Asiatic lions together at one spot.
The Gir National Park and Sanctuary, spread over 1,412 square kilometres of Junagadh and Amreli districts of Saurashtra region in Gujarat, is the last natural habitat of the Asiatic lion. Unlike the other reserved forests where wild animals are dwindling, the number of Asiatic lions in Gir have gone up from 305 in 1995 to 411 in 2010.
The 14 Asiatic lions photographed together by Deputy Conservator of Forest Dr Sandeep Kumar could be the largest gathering of big cats ever clicked by any one. But Sandeep Kumar would not hazard a guess. “In India, it is definitely a record”, Dr Sandeep Kumar, DCF, told the The Pioneer on phone from Gir, adding that he has no idea about the world record.
Kumar said that the photograph was clicked on December 15 towards the evening, around 5.00 p.m. an hour before sunset. The DCF of Gir had actually clicked 600 snaps at that spot since early morning that day when only ten lions were present there. Two more came in the early afternoon followed by another pair later.
As many as 18 lions were present at the spot when the lot of 14 were clicked but the others could not be included in the frame as they were sitting nearly hundred metres away in different directions, Sandeep Kumar told The Pioneer on Tuesday.
Asked why almost all the lions are looking at one side, Sandeep Kumar said that animals turn towards the direction where there is any movement or any sound emanates from.
Earlier, the maximum number of lions could be clicked at one place was eleven. The photograph of eleven lions, including cubs, drinking water from a small pond was taken by Kumar’s predecessor, the then DCF B.P.Pati in 1998.
Present DCF Sandeep Kumar had also taken the now famous photo of a lion family’s unsuccesful struggle to force open a pangolin which had sphered up itself to save his life from the predators. “That was a struggle between the prey and the predator”, the DCF commented.
