Cong MP demands lions should not be radio-collared

New Delhi, Sep 17 Congress MP Shakti Singh Gohil on Thursday raised the issue of death of Asiatic Lions in the Rajya Sabha. He demanded that cubs should not be radio-collared as it hampers their growth and leads to untimely death of the big cats.

"The collar is of 2.5kg which should not be used and more scientific ways must be adopted," Gohil said.

As per a Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change committee report, 92 Asiatic lions have died in Gujarat since January.

Narendra Modi on June 10 in a tweet though had celebrated a historic rise of 29 per cent in the Asiatic lion population 151 between 2015 and 2020.

The Gir National Park spreads over eight districts of Gujarat, including Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Gir-Somnath, Botad and Jamnagar, according to the 14th Lion Population Estimation Report 2015.

( With inputs from IANS )