Three Asiatic Lions Run Over By Goods Train In Gir

Three Asiatic lions were killed in the Gir forest division in Gujarat’s Amreli district when a train ran over them on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The lion carcasses were found on the railway tracks in the Borala village early on Tuesday morning, forest officials said.

“A pride of six lions was passing by the railway track when a goods train crossed the track and killed three of them at around 12:45 am,” Dushyant Vasavada, Chief Conservator of Forests of Junagadh Wildlife Circle, told NDTV. The goods train was going from Botad to Pipavav.

Two male lions and one lioness, between the age of 1.5 and 2 years, were killed in the accident, Mr Vasavada said. He added that a probe is on in the incident. “We are trying to get details on the train speed, negligence of trackers and forest staff. Stringent action will be taken against the defaulters,” he said.

At least 30 lions have died in Gir forest division since September. Following the outbreak of CDV infection in September, 36 lions were captured and shifted to three rescue centres as a precautionary measure. Twenty-three big cats had died in Gir in a short span of three weeks in September.