Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary celebrates its golden jubilee(Video)

Rajkot

The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat celebrated 50 years of its existence. The sanctuary is home to Asiatic lions and occupies an area of 1,412 square km. On the occasion a seminar was organised in Rajkot city where a special postal stamp was launched. The two-day seminar was also attended by Environment and Forest Minister of Gujarat, Mangubhai Patel. When the sanctuary was established in 1965, it had 174 lions and now the sanctuary is home to 523 lions though the population of tigers has dwindled in the state. Speaking at the seminar, Conservator of Forest, Gir National Park, Sandeep Kumar, thanked everyone for their contribution in making the numbers of lions increase. Patel said the atmosphere of Gujarat was such that the wildlife can be protected. The Asiatic lion was removed from the list of ‘critically endangered’ species in 2005 where it was placed in 2000 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). It is now listed under ‘endangered’ species.

ANI