Into the Wild: THE LAST DEN OF THE ASIATIC LION

THE DOMINANT KING OF THE JUNGLE.

The dry deciduous, scrub forest of Gir which is home to the only surviving population of the Asiatic lion is located on the west coast of India. It is here that the Asiatic lions have thrived while their counterparts in other parts of Asia have perished. The Asiatic lions of Gir were on the verge of extinction not so long ago when their numbers were reduced to thirteen in the wild. The power of Indian conservation stood testimony to the fact that India has a remarkable record of bringing back species from the verge of extinction to a number that could allow the future generations to see them in full prime. Today Gir plays host to more than four hundred lions, a remarkable feat accomplished in just a period of sixty years. This sort of remarkable conservation was possible due to the joint efforts of the forest department, the locals that live in the vicinity and the fifty five different tribes that live within the sanctuary area. One of the main reasons for the survival of the Asiatic lions is that the tribals that live within the forest are very tolerant to the lions when the lions kill their cattle. The tribals themselves are vegetarians and hence do not hunt for a living but cultivate instead.

A PICTURE OF MYSELF IN THE FOREST.

Gir was always on top my ‘forests to visit in India list’ and at last I found the time to visit this beautiful forest. It was mid-summer and the best time to spot the Asiatic lions as most of them do come out and rest near the waterholes. It is difficult to spot the cat during winter season, right after the park opens from their monsoon break because the semi-deciduous forest turns green and since the lions find water deep inside the sanctuary, they retreat from the summer resting grounds to deeper enclosures inside the park.

In this article I would not give a day to day account of my stay at Gir but will provide the reader with certain highlights of my stay.

THE MOTTLED WOOD OWL.

A PICTURE SHOWING THE FULL EXTENSION OF THE WING.

The Mottled wood owl was one of the biggest birds I saw on my drives into the forest. The picture shows the male one the left, the female in the middle and the juvenile on the right. Notice that the juvenile has a brighter coloration than his parents. Five minutes into the sighting and the male extended his wing, the length of which was greater than his body.

TWO LIONESSES DRINKING OUT OF THE WATERHOLE.

THE OLDER LIONESS ON THE LEFT WHILE THE YOUNGER ONE COMES TO GREET HER.

WAY OF GREETING.

THE OLDER LIONESS ACCEPTING THE GREETING.

THE GREETING GOES ON FOR FIVE MINUTES.

THE LIONESS IS ON HER WAY.

It was around 5pm during my first drive into the park when I was very excited with an unnerving tension around me to spot the Asiatic lion. I had not come across one for two hours into the drive and was beginning to feel the pressure of spotting at least one of these cats before my week long adventure at Gir ended. I was coming to grasp the difficulty of the situation of spotting the Asiatic lions when the guide got my attention and what I saw were two fully grown lionesses drinking out of the waterhole. One lioness presumably the older of the two, marked by the darker coloration of her coat, sat down on the ground after quenching her thirst. The younger lionesses came up and started to greet the more mature female in a typical way that all cats do by rubbing her cheek against the elder lioness. The elder lioness accepted the greeting by bowing her head, popping out her tongue just a little bit and allowing the younger female to continue with her rubbing. This sort of behavioral interest is less popular with the large number of tourists that visit the park most of whom are interested only in seeing the lions hunt or a territorial fight between males. This sort of expectation disappoints me as everything these cats do has a deeper meaning than what people see and the lack of interest among people to such behavior which was on display then, just goes to show the ignorance of the common man and his naive lack of appreciation to the behavior of the big cats.

THE LIONESS AS SHE CROSSES THE ROAD IN THE JUNGLE.

The next morning while I was about an hour into the drive without having spotted an animal but soaking in the beauty of the scrubs that I found myself in, did I notice a traffic-jam of sorts. On making our way through the jam of about twenty vehicles did I see a beautiful lioness trying to cross the road amidst the traffic that was preventing her from doing so and unruly tourists hooting at the lioness and using flash photography that was prohibited which only irritated the lioness and made her cross the road and get away from the bundle of noise as fast as possible. In the midst of the commotion, I was able to silently click the picture that you see above.

WHITE-THROATED KINGFISHER.

Two drives into the forest and I had by now seen six lionesses but the king of the jungle had still evaded me. Having been to the only habitat of the Asiatic lion and not having seen the male had only pushed my anxiety to its pinnacle and the urge to see the king was more than what I could tolerate. My guide for the trip was a young lad named Vijay and I told Vijay that our goal for the days’ trip was to spot the male lion but I assured him that I was interested in other animals and birds too and would be on the lookout for them but if he heard the news of a male lion sighting, he was to inform me and we would make our way in that direction hoping to see the king. After an hour and a half into the drive while I was photographing a White-Throated Kingfisher we received news that a male lion had been spotted at a location where Vijay and I had stopped for about half an hour earlier that day. Since we didn’t see the lion then, we continued with our drive only to be told later on that the lion had come out of his den and several jeeps were at the location photographing him.

THE LION AS HE SLEEPS ON THE GROUND COVERED IN DRY LEAVES.

We were about ten kilometres ahead when we received the news and now had to go back slowly and I was hoping that the lion would not be disturbed by the noise made by the tourists. Several tourists that visit the park do not know how to behave inside the forest. One must maintain utmost silence, have a keen sense of observation and most importantly awareness about the ecosystem and not litter the park with plastic, which a majority of the tourists that visit the park lack which in turn disturbs and destroys the forest. Deer and other animals choke on the plastic that tourists throw despite having been instructed by the forest guide and having a trash can inside the vehicle. The noise made by the tourists disturbs the animals and the animals generally make a retreat to places which is a lot quieter with the absence of humans.

THE MALE LION RESTING.

THE LION OCCASIONALLY LIFTED HIS HEAD TO TAKE A LOOK AROUND.

A BIG YAWN WAS ALL A PHOTOGRAPHER LIKE ME COULD ASK FOR.

THE DOMINANT MALE LION.

We got there in time, where the male was lying down next to a tree with the ground covered with dry leaves. He was resting in the heat of the day and was not bothered by the twenty vehicles that were making a lot of noise about twenty meters away from him. He occasionally lifted his head, looked at the vehicles in front of him, yawned and went back to sleep. On several such occasions, I heard people say that ‘the male lion is lazy, does nothing all day but sleep’. I was quite put-off with such remarks as the male lion is not lazy at all and most of the tourists have no idea about the role played by the male lion. The male lion must first conserve his energy to drive off rival males in their territory or in some instances, drive off the territorial male to take over the territory, then the male must find a pride, take on the dominant male of the pride and if he succeeds, then mate with the lionesses and after the birth of his offspring’s, prevent other males from taking over the pride as the new dominant male would kill any young lion cubs to ensure that the females get back into heat and mate with him. Male lions also play an important role in hunting when the pride needs the extra muscle power to bring down a heavy prey such as the Sambar and Nilgai in Gir and in Africa the Cape buffalo, Wildebeest and in some cases Hippos, Giraffes and Elephants. Hence the male lion is everything but lazy. It’s true that the male lion spends most of his time resting in order to conserve his energy as food is not so easily available in the wild and so gives rise to the misconception that the king of the jungle is lazy.

THE LION WAS FAST ASLEEP BEFORE HEARING HIS BROTHER'S CALL.

THE LION ON HEARING HIS BROTHER'S CALL.

THE MALE ON HIS WAY TO THE MUCH AWAITED FIGHT.

It was half an hour into the sighting, when the male lion looked over his shoulder as he heard something, inaudible to the human ear. He immediately stood up and walked into the jungle. All the jeeps continued with their drives, with only two other jeeps stranded at the spot. We soon took another route that lead to a clearing behind the thick jungle which the lion entered, to find the young male lion joined by his older brother. Now we were hearing distant roars of two other male lions quiet far from our location and the two brothers that we were seeing made their way in the direction from where the other two rouge males were roaring. Since no road leads to the spot where ‘our’ two lions were headed, we could only guess that a fight between the four lions was in the making and we had the misfortune of not having front row seats to the jaw dropping spectacle.

ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER.

THE ASIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER.

WE DON'T REALIZE THE BEAUTY OF OUR NATIONAL BIRD.

THE COMMON HOOPOE.

Day three was brightened by the presence of several birds. Three birds stood out from the 324 species that Gir has to offer and they are the ‘the Asian Paradise Flycatcher, the Peacock and the Common Hoopoe’. Ten years ago one could find these birds flying and chirping their way through the cities and towns and at present times, their sightings in the cities have turned mythical and such beautiful and colorful birds have been banished to the forest reserves reducing their numbers to alarming proportions. I wonder how far the human species has gone ahead of its time to be unable to live with creatures which have equal rights to the planet and its resources. This article will be followed by another article that would highlight the disappearance of birds from our cities where I would reveal much more information pertaining to this topic and hence I must confine my anguish to the previous sentence in this article.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST MALE LIONS OF GIR.

THE BIG GUY LOOKING RIGHT AT ME AND I AT HIM.

THE SCARS ON HIS FACE ARE TESTIMONIES TO THE NUMBER OF FIGHTS THAT HE HAS BEEN THROUGH.

On my fifth drive into the forest I was lucky enough to come across a huge male lion resting under the tree and away from his pride that was roaring from a thicket deep inside the jungle. The male was undisturbed by our presence as he continued to sleep under the shade for more than an hour in our presence. After about an hour, he lifted his head and looked at me and I staring right back at him through my camera, managed to get some really good snaps of him. He was the biggest male in Gir national park and the scars on his face are testimonies of his fights with rival males and young lions would think twice before going head to head with this one true king of the jungle.

A VERY BEAUTIFUL LIONESS AS SHE WALKS ONTO THE ROAD.

Soon after leaving the big guy, I saw one of his lionesses walking on the road and with no other jeeps to block her way; I soon turned out to be her personal photographer as she walked along the ramp of a road within the studio of the forest.

TWO FUTURE KINGS OF THE JUNGLE.

On my evening drive that day, I came across two young sub-adult lions, two future kings of the jungle resting beside a waterhole. The two young males were within the protection of the pride and haven’t been tested in battle yet but another year from now and they would find themselves out of their parental pride and on the search for a pride of their own where they hope to father and spread their legacy to their future generations.

A MALE LION SITTING ON THE ROAD.

THE LION AS HE LOOKS RIGHT INTO MY CAMERA.

THE MALE LION AS WE DROVE PAST HIM.

I MANAGED TO CAPTURE A PICTURE AS THE LION ROARS.

On my tenth drive into the forest, I happen to come across a huge male lion sitting in the middle of the road with only our jeep being a mute spectator to his roar. It was the first time I saw a lion roar in front of my eyes and it was nothing like I ever heard to before. It’s a sound that I can recall even in my sleep, a sound that gives you an adrenaline rush every time you hear it and a sound that sends shivers down your spine.

THE INDIAN PITTA.

Two memorable highlights of the trip were the Indian Pitta, a migratory bird that comes from the Himalayas and Sri Lanka to Gir during the month of May, that hadn’t been spotted this year and I was the first person to spot and photograph the beautiful bird.

PAINTED SAND GROUSE: THE FEMALE IN FRONT WITH THE COLORFUL MALE WALKING BEHIND.

THE EVER COLORFUL MALE OF THE PAINTED SAND GROUSE.

The second highlight was the ‘Painted-Sand grouse’ that was not seen in Gir for over two years and was thought to be extinct in the park was spotted and photographed by me. A beautiful bird, whose existence in the forest was questioned before my arrival and now there I was playing an importing role in dispelling without a shadow of a doubt, its disappearance from the forest.

THE TWO YOUNG MALES ALONG WITH THEIR SISTER.

TYPICAL CAT-LIKE BEHAVIOR.

THE MAJESTIC ASIATIC LION.

My last drive into the forest was a blissful one with having previously spotted 7 lions and close to 30 lionesses and several birds some of which I have photographed and published below, I couldn’t have asked for more but yet wanted to see the two young sub-adults once again. I wanted to say good-bye to the future generation of the Asiatic lion and make a wish in their presence that the Asiatic lions will roam the wide plains as they used to in the past, once more with our future generation getting to see more of the Asiatic pride not just in Gir but in other parts of Asia too, a dream I hope would become a reality in the years to come. Within minutes of coalescing the wish, I saw the two young male lions along with their sister, lying by the side of a waterhole. A sight that brought joy and a tear to my eye and a wish made with a glimmer of hope secluded in a tear that ran down my cheek. I hope the lions do break free from the mortal bonds of Gir national park and people elated by their presence all around Asia. Conservation has come a long way in saving the lions and it does not stop with increasing their numbers in the national park but seeing their population spread throughout the region where they can roam free once again without being poached or killed by humans.