For Saurashtrians(Gujarat, India), “lions are like kin”

The people of Saurashtra(Gujarat, India) take care of lions as they would of their family members. If they spot a lion in the vicinity of their village, they take pride in the fact and protect it. These statements were made by the government in the assembly for the first time.

Minister of state for forests and environment Govind Patel – in response to a question from Nikol MLA Jagdish Panchal – informed the house that lions were found in many places of India, but they survive only in Gujarat owing to people’s conservation efforts.

“They are the pride of Gujarat and it was only because of the people of Saurashtra that the lion population grew,” Patel said.

“Even if lions attack cattle in villages, the villagers are tolerant of lions”.

Patel told the house that government has also created post of ‘van mitras’ who take care of the animal and keep a watch on the movement inside the sanctuary. He said 898 eco-clubs had been formed in the Saurashtra region.

Responding to a question Patel said that there were 411 lions – 97 males and 162 females – in the sanctuary. He further said that the state had created gene – pool centers. Five new cubs have been born in the last year at the Rampara Virdi centre. These cubs have been born to two pairs of lions captured from completely different areas and brought to Rampara to ensure that the genes different. These centre’s provide a shield against weakening genes of Gir Lions.

For example if the lioness was from Sasan (Gujarat, India), the lion would be from a far off area of Tulsishyam(Jungadh, Gujarat, India) or even Bhavnagar. The minister said that there have been no instances of villagers offering baits to lions in order to show the animals to visitors. However, he admitted that his department had penalized people caught on the spot to the tune of Rs. 93,000 to Rs 31,400.

Courtesy: Times of India.   

Here mornings begin with chirping of house sparrows

Rajkot: House sparrows may have almost vanished from city homes, but Jasdan and near-by villages in Rajkot district begin with the sweet these little birds daily. Thanks to a dedicated campaign of a forest official in Hingolgadh, sparrows have started nesting in huge numbers near human habitats in Jasdan, Gondal and in the district. V.D. Bala, range forest officer, Hingolgadh Nature Education Sanctuary Launched Chakli no Malo (Sparrow’s nest) campaign in 2010 by distributing nests specially designed for these birds to maximum people possible. Over the last three years, Bala has distributed over 1.50 lakh artificial nests across the state, mainly in Saurashtra Region. He exhorted people to keep these nests at suitable places at their home and report to him whenever sparrows nest in it. Bala said once commonly seen flitting around the neighborhood; sparrows are in a real trouble and vanishing from the centre of many cities and rural areas. “Due to various disturbances, the population of this friendly bird has witnessed a free fall. Primary reasons behind this are non-availability of food (due to changing lifestyles), lack of nesting places in urban areas among others,” he added. Hitesh Patel, a resident of Gondal town, said, “I brought 2,000 such nests and distributed them in the town two years ago. Out 2,000 nests, sparrows nested in all most all the nests. Now, our morning begins with their chirping.” “The sparrows used to build their nests below tiled roofs of houses. With contemporary architecture making a clean sweep in cities, tiled roofs have become a thing of the past, and sparrows have lost their prospective nesting spots. But artificial nests are good options and we are hopeful that House Sparrow will be brought in urban areas too,” Bala said.
Courtesy:- Times Of India