Lioness killed after being run over by a speeding car

Rajkot

A lioness was killed after being run over by a vehicle on Pipavav road at Rajula taluka of Amreli district on Tuesday, a forest department official said. The lioness, a sub-adult whose age is yet to be determined, was found dead on the Pipavav Road near Pipavav Port, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Amreli) Mohan Ram said.

It’s not unusual for lions and other wild animals from nearby reserve forest areas to cross the road while moving from one place to another. We shall be able to determine the age of the lioness through post mortem, said Mohan Ram, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Amreli).

The body of the lioness was taken into the custody of the forest department and was sent for post mortem.

State Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel had recently told the Assembly that as many as 310 lions including their cubs succumbed to natural and unnatural deaths in the last five years. Out of 310 lions, 25 had died an unnatural death, Patel said, replying to a written query raised by Congress MLA.

Amreli district is home to 174 Asiatic lions as per the census conducted by the state government last year. The same census has put the total number of lions in the state to 523, a jump from 411 lions recorded in 2010 census.

PTI