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History repeats itself, it is said. Asiatic lions used to roam on the Barda hills near Porbandar in the 19th century. They were gradually wiped out for reasons yet unknown.
Lion-friendly environment and facilities are being created on
the hills. It is learnt that four pairs of lions and lionesses will be translocated from Gir to Barda. A gene pool will also be developed in Barda for the lion breeding.
A lion breeding centre is already there in the Rampara forest area near Wankaner in Rajkot district. A lion conservation programme has been successfully going on there. This breeding centre is bustling with the arrival of three newborn lion cubs.
Though the Gujarat government continues to vehemently oppose any move, any proposal to translocate some lions from Gir to Kuno-Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, it has long realised that the 1400 square km forest is proving small to accommodate 400-plus lions. Hence the authorities have already started looking for other places for the royal animals
within Saurashtra.
In fact, plans are already afoot to develop the Jesar forest area near Bhavnagar as another small habitat for the lions. Breeding centres in Rampara and Barda are part of that project. In near future, the Hingolgadh hills near Jasdan in Rajkot district are also likely to get some lions from Gir.
Meanwhile, settlers living on Barda have strongly protested the move to shift some lions there from Gir. They argue that neither they nor their cattle can live safely in Barda in the presence of lions, something they are not used to so far, unlike their brethren in Gir.
They suspect that their livestock might be scared to death hearing the roars of lions; or they may catch some diseases or even get killed or injured by the big cats. They have demanded optional land and suitable compensation to continue their cattle-rearing profession.