Lion deaths prompt vaccination drive

Chief minister says lions contracted a disease after eating “contaminated food”

After the death of 23 Asiatic lions in Gir forest due to the deadly Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), Gujarat State Forest and Animal Husbandry Departments have jointly started vaccination of cattle and dogs in 20 nearby villages.

The Forest Department received 300 shots of a vaccine against Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) from the United States last week after top bio-medical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) urged the state government to take immediate steps to save the lions. “We have decided to vaccinate dogs and cattle in 20 villages as a precautionary measure. The state Animal Husbandry Department is doing the vaccination in consultation with the Forest Department,” Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) of Junagadh wildlife Circle Dushyant Vasavada told Gulf News.

On Monday, ICMR confirmed that since September 12, as many as 23 lions died in the Gir sanctuary, at least 11 of them due to CDV and Protozoa infections. “It is unfortunate because Asiatic lions are the last remaining species which live in the Gir forests of western India,” ICHR said.

Thirty-three lions kept in isolation at rescue centres in Jamwala in Gir (West) division and at Babarkot in Amreli social forestry division have already been vaccinated. “Top lion experts of the world had been consulted before the lions were administered doses of poly-vaccine imported from the US,” Vasavada said.

Additional Chief Secretary of Forest Department Rajiv Kumar Gupta said the vaccine was administered to lions after going through various health reports of the animals.