Spread over Junagadh, Amreli and Gir Somnath districts of Gujarat, Gir National Park is the only abode of Asiatic lions in Asia. Gir National Park is also known as Sasan Gir and basically this national park is situated near the place named Talala Gir.
Gir National Park covers an area of about 1,424 square kilometers (550 sq mi), out of which an area of about 258 square kilometers (100 sq mi) is fully declared as a national park and the remaining 1,153 square kilometers (445 sq mi) is protected. The area has been declared a protected wildlife sanctuary. Gir National Park
Apart from this, there is also a small wildlife sanctuary near this national park, which is known as Mitiyala Wildlife Sanctuary, which is spread over about 18.22 square kilometers (07 square miles). Gujarat’s Gir National Park is the only forest area in the world after Africa where lions live in their natural habitat. Gir National Park
The forest area of Gir was declared a protected wildlife sanctuary in the year 1965 and after 06 years it was established as a national park by expanding the area of 140.4 square kilometers (54.20 sq mi) of this protected forest area. At present, this national park has spread to about 258.71 square kilometers (100 square miles). Gir National Park
Basically, Gir National Park is considered to be a part of the Khatiyar-Gir dry deciduous forest region, which is spread over three major districts of Gujarat. And if we talk about the geographical location of this park from these three districts, then we come to know that this national park is located at a distance of 65 km (40 miles) (south-east) from Junagadh, and Amreli It is located at a distance of 60 km (37 mi) (south-west) from Somnath and 43 km (27 mi) (north-east) from Somnath. Gir National Park
Now if we talk about the current number of lions in this national park, then in the month of May 2015, the 14th Asiatic Lion Census 2015 was conducted. According to him, in the year 2015, the number of lions in this national park was 523, which was 27% more than the 2010 census. According to 2005 census the number of lions in the park was 359 and in 2010 census the number of lions was 411. Gir National Park
If we look at the district wise population of current lions (as per 2015 census) then there are 44 in Gir Somnath district, 174 in Amreli district, 268 in Junagadh district and 37 in Bhavnagar district. Of these 523 lions, there are 109 males, 201 females and 213 cubs. Gir National Park gujarat
History of Gir National Park – Gir National Park History in Hindi
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Lion Family Gir National Park | ref img
Before talking about the history of Gir National Park, I would like to tell you about the importance of lion in the Vedic and ancient history of India. Although the lion is called the king of the jungle, but in the symbols associated with the history of ancient India, you get to see the mention of the lion prominently in many places. Gir National Park gujarat
If we go back to the Vedic period, we find that the lion is also depicted as the vehicle of Mother Amba, one of the main deities of Hinduism. From this you can understand that how important the lion must have been in the ancient Indian culture. Now when we talk about Gir National Park, I would like to tell you that the history of this national park is more than 100 years old. Gir National Park gujarat
In the 19th century, when the British Raj was going on in India, the rulers of the Indian princely states used to invite the British officials to their princely state for hunting etc. to please them. Because of this, a large number of wildlife was hunted in India at that time and for this reason many species of wildlife either became extinct or reached the verge of extinction. Gir National Park gujarat
Something similar happened with the Asiatic lions, at that time the Asiatic lions which were found in many different parts of this country, were now confined only to the private hunting ground (Gir forest area) of the Nawab of Junagadh. By the year 1900, so many lions were hunted all over India that at that time only 15 lions were left in the Gir forest area of Gujarat. Then the then British Viceroy of that time alerted the Nawab of Junagadh about the dwindling population of lions.