Lioness run over in Gujarat

A lioness was killed after being run over by a vehicle on Pipavav road at Rajula taluka of Amreli district early today, 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.

"The lioness was killed after getting run over by a speeding vehicle when it was trying to cross the Pipavav road early this morning. Its a sub-adult whose age is not yet determined. Its not unusual for lions and other wild animals from nearby reserve forest areas to cross the road while moving from one place to another," Ram said.

The body of the lioness was taken into the custody by forest department and was sent for post mortem. "We shall be able to derermine the age of the lioness through post mortem," he said.

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 unnatural death, he had told while replying to a written query raised by Congress MLA Tejashree Patel.

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.