It was at the end of the 18th century when worried over the dwindling population of lions, Lord Curzon declined an invitation to hunt and requested the Nawab to take steps to conserve the species. In his celebrated letter to the Burma Game Preservation Association he wrote - " The causes of this diminution in the wild fauna of India are …… The steady increase of population, the widening area of cultivation and the improvement in the means of communication - all of them the sequel of what is popularly termed progress in civilization. There are some persons who doubt or dispute the progressive diminution of wildlife in India. I think that that they are wrong. The facts seem to me to point entirely in the opposite direction. Upto the times of the mutiny, lions were shot in central India. They are now confined to an ever-narrowing patch of forest in Kathiawar. I was on the verge of contributing to their still further reduction a year ago (1900) myself but fortunately I found out my mistake in time, and was able to adopt a restraint, which I hope that others will follow. Except in native states, the terai, and forest reseves, tigers are undoubtedly diminishing. This is perhaps not an unmixed evil. The rhino is all but exterminated save in Assam…….Every man's hand appears to be against them, and each year thins the herds. Finally many beautiful and innocent varieties of birds are pursued for the sake of their plumage, which is required to minister to the needless vanity of European fashion. The preservation of fauna and flora is more important than the preservation of any of the great monuments which after all were fashioned by man and can be recreated at a price.The present generation owes it to its successors to restore the only species of a large mammal lost in the plains of India in historical times. Failure to do so would not be forgiven by the judgement of history."

The Gir lion population had been reduced to a very low number by the early years of the 20th century : fewer than 20 according to the Chief Forester of Junagadh. However the neighboring ruler, the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar, felt that the ruler of Junagadh was giving low numbers in order to dissuade hunters and that there were about 100 lions.

What ever may be the truth, after Lord Curzon's request to conserve the lions, the Nawab imposed a ban on shooting of lions. He however retained the rights to allow royal guests to shoot a few animals every year. Hunting was now regulated and only when the population would rise would hunting be allowed with a quota being fixed.

Hunting in Gir was considered a privilege. Dignitaries used to vie for invitations to 'enjoy' a shikar of the lion by the Nawab of Junagadh. They craved to be royal guests at Junagadh as this was considered a matter of great pride and honour.

In 1947 when the sub-continent was being partioned, the then Nawab wanted to take his tiny state to Pakistan. The population which was predominantly Hindu wanted to join India. This lead to the Nawab fleeing to Pakistan with his family, and Indian forces entering the state and assuming full control.

In the post-Independence years, conservationists such as Dharmakumarsinhji of Bhavnagar, and Dr.Salim Ali urged the then Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru to save the lion. The result was that in 1965 Gir was formally declared a Sanctuary and in 1974 was declared a National Park.

While the creation of the Gir National Park and Lion Sanctuary have successfully contributed towards the stabilization of the last remaining wild population of Asiatic lions, the subspecies is still in great danger of extinction despite these efforts.

The lion population in Gir has experienced what is known as a genetic bottleneck. A genetic bottleneck occurs when the population drops to very low numbers ( normally less than 500 adult interbreeding animals is referred to as a small population ), as a result the population loses most of its genetic diversity. This leaves it extremely vulnerable to any kind of biological, climatic or man-made catastrophe. A major disaster within the Gir could wipe out the entire subspecies. A canine distemper epidemic in the early 1990's at the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania affected 75 per cent of the lions and killed 30 per cent, even though there was a large lion population spread over a vast area.

Citing this a Wildlife Institute of India report says that," If a similar epidemic were to affect the lions in Gir, it would be very difficult to save them from extinction, given the much smaller area and relatively smaller lion population."

Establishment of at least one other wild population was first attempted in 1957 when four lions from Gir were shifted to Chandraprabha forest in Uttar Pradesh on an experimental basis. The population grew to eleven and for a while it looked like the program was successful. Suddenly they all disappeared, and it is feared that they were killed by the local population.

In 1989 - 90 the Wildlife Institute of India revived the idea of creating an alternative home for this highly endangered species. At a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) workshop held in India in 1993 Palur-Kuno, in the Madhya Pradesh region, was identified as the most viable candidate for a second lion population. The Central Government accepted the recommendations and work has started on preparing Palur-Kuno to becoming a second home for the Asiatic lion. However, the Gujarat Government is reluctant to move out any of the lions out of the State. They are instead exploring the possibility of moving the lions within the state to Barda, a sanctuary near Porbander.

The Species Survival Programme (SSP) for the critically endangered Asiatic lion was undertaken in 1981 to assist its conservation. However in 1987 a report titled "Evidence for African Origins of the Founders of the Asiatic Lion SSP" by S.J. O'Brien revealed that by using genetic tests to compare animals in the wild population in Gir with those in captivity, the majority of the captive population was not pure Asiatic but a hybrid of African and Asian. As a result of this report the SSP was effectively discontinued.

In 1990 the foundations of a European Breeding Programme (EEP) of the Asiatic lion was laid with the receipt of four Asiatic lions (2 male, 2 female) of known purity by London Zoo from India. The purpose was to aid an increase in the world population and act as a gene pool. Zoos in Zurich and Helsinki received lions in 1991 and 1992 respectively, and the program was formalized by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) in 1994. By the end of 1996 some 12 zoos were participating in the Asiatic lion EEP. The EEP Member Zoos are - Berlin Tierpark Zoo, Chester Zoo, Dudley Zoo, Koln Zoo,Lodzkie Zoo, Zoological Society of London, Paignton Zoo, Planckendael Dierenpark, Rhenen Zoo, Tisch Family Zoo, Twycross Zoo & Twycross Zoo Association, Zurich Zoo. Today genetically pure captive Asiatic lions exist only in Asian and European zoos.

Till recently, the lions of Gir were noted for their ambivalence towards humans. Following the severe drought of 1987 - 1991 which lead to lions increasingly attacking cattle and humans, there has been a rise in hostility of villagers towards them with the result that poisoned baits are being used to kill them. Further with the lion population increasing and the Gir Protected Area (PA) having reached its lion carrying capacity, the lions have started roaming outside the PA onto the surrounding agricultural lands. Here they prey on the livestock, which has again increased the hostility towards them.

With three major roads and a railway line cutting through Gir, the lions and the other animals get disturbed. Further with Gir being dry, it needs just a careless passer by to have a fire started. Moreover animals, including lions, have been run over. There are three big temples in the forest which draw more people than the national park. This human influx causes problems ranging from litter dumping to firewood extraction, further diminishing the lion's habitat. Gir is home to the richest vein of limestone deposits in the country. The area around Gir right upto the coast line 50 kms away, has attracted the cement and soda ash industry. Mining is carried out in a number of areas adjacent to the protected area (and sometimes within it if the boundary is unclear ). A study in 1998 has shown that there are over 100 mines within a 10 km radius of the protected area. These feed seven cement factories and one soda ash plant owned by some of the biggest names in Indian business.

The Gir forest is an isolated patch of natural vegetation in the Saurashtra peninsula. It covered more than 3,000 square kilometers, as measured by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of 1877. Today, the remaining forest barely covers 1,500 square kilometers. Even though the lion population has increased in the last few decades the fact that their natural habitat is restricted and hemmed in by human settlements on all sides is a major limiting factor to its potential for growth. The establishment of a second free-ranging population is imperative for enhancing the long-term prospects of the Asiatic lion.

While it is important to preserve the Gir forest because it is the last home of the last surviving gene pool of the Asiatic Lions ( Panthera leo persica ), very few people know that there are other factors also which make it important to save this place. Gir is the largest compact tract of dry deciduous forest in the semi arid Western part of India. It is home to the highest concentration of top carnivores - lions and leopards, and also has the single largest population of marsh crocodiles in the country.

Population of the Asiatic Lions in Gir over the years

Year	Authority	No. of Animals
1880	Col. Watson	About 12
1893	The then Junagadh State	About 31
1905	The then Junagadh State	About 100
1913	Mr. Willinger	Not > 20
1920	Sir P.R. Cadell	About 50
1936	The then Junagadh State	287
1950	Mr. Winter Blyth	227
1955	Mr. Winter Blyth	290
1963	Forest Dept. of Gujarat	285
1968	Forest Dept.	177
1974	Forest Dept.	180
1979	Forest Dept.	205
1984	Forest Dept.	239
1990	Forest Dept.	284
1995	Forest Dept.	304
2001	Forest Dept.	327
2005	Forest Dept. of Gujarat	359

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