The Pride of 8 Lions Who Invaded a Gujarat Village
Residents of a coastal village in Gujarat were awakened just after midnight on Tuesday by the alarm calls of mooing cows and barking dogs, heralding the entry of a pride of eight Gir lions. However, their visit was without incident, as the entourage disappeared into the darkness after the procession through the streets of the village.
The incident took place in Bherai village of Amreli Rajula taluka district. According to a local resident, lions have been entering the village “almost every night for the past year”. The incident on Tuesday ended with forest department officials chasing away the big cats.
“At around 1am on Tuesday, dogs started barking in the streets and cows in farmers’ houses started mooing, waking up the villagers. When some youths went to see what was going on, they witnessed a pride of eight lions roaming in the village,” Sana Vagh, a resident of Rampara village and husband of Rampara village sarpanch Sonal Vagh.
Vagh said the sighting of the big cats was recorded on CCTV cameras installed at the residence of one Sadul Lala Vagh at Paldi Sheri near the entrance of the village which also houses a boarding school with 150 children.
“Lions have been entering our village almost every night for the past year. That is why the 5,000 or so residents of Rampara are used to waking up to the alarm raised by cows and dogs sensing their presence from afar,” said 48-year-old Vagh, who works in a transport company but lives in the village. “We immediately informed the local police from the forest department who rushed to the village and chased away the lions.
Vagh said about 50 percent of the residents in the village are engaged in agriculture, while the rest work at Pipavav port or nearby units associated with port activities. “Farmers do not dare to go to their farms at night even though their crops need irrigation. In fact, they have to stay alert even during the day because lions can rest on the outskirts of their farms,” he said, adding, “Lions are almost everywhere in our village. Three youths from our village have been booked by the forest department after making a video of the big cats when they met them on the road a few months ago.’
Rampara is located on the border of Pipavav port area and falls under Rajula area of Shetrunji wildlife division.
Yograjsinh Rathod, range forest officer (RFO) of Rajula range, said lions are doing well in the area. “Bherai Vidi, a forest reserve, is located near Rampara village. Also, the huge area of land allotted to Torrent Power is covered with a thicket of gando baval (prosopis juliflora) and other bushes which provide an ideal habitat for lions. Hence, big cats thrive in this area,” said Rathod.
Vagh said lions often prey on stray cattle in the village, but he also admitted that the big cats keep farmers’ crops safe from blue bulls and other ungulates that raid farms at night.
“Our staff are making every effort to prevent lions from entering the village by monitoring their movements,” the RFO said. “The forest department has hired a man from Rampara. We have also deployed an experienced wildlife tracker in the area to keep an eye on the movements of the lions.”
The forest officer added that the nearby coastal highway, the Pipavav-Surendranagar railway line and the road connecting Rampara to other villages were a bigger problem. “We have to ensure that the lions do not stray onto the roads and the railway line, otherwise there could be accidents leading to casualties,” the RFO said.
Incidentally, there are cases of lions being injured or killed every year on this railway line after being hit by trains.
