Wandering Gir sanctuary lion captured

A lion from Gir Sanctuary who strayed into Bhand village in Amreli district on June 20 and has been posing a threat to residents was captured alive from a forest area near the village today.
According to forest officials, the old and famished big cat walked into the backyard of a house of Babubhai Bharwad in the village on the night of June 20 in search of food, where it killed three calves.
The forest officials were alerted by villagers after the lion tried to attack a horse tied in the house backyard.
"Our first priority was to drive the lion out to the forest area so that there is no threat to villagers. We succeeded in driving it out and kept tracking its movements," said Range Forest Officer Rambhai Mor.

He said a prior permission of the chief conservator of forest (wild life) was mandatory to capture the lion alive.
Forest officials preferred setting up a trap over using a tranquiliser shot considering the old age of the lion.
The lion was sent to the Animal Welfare Care Centre located at Jasadhar in neighbouring Gir Somnath district today, Mor said.