India probes death of 12 endangered lions

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Indian authorities on Friday ordered a probe into the deaths of a dozen endangered wild Asiatic lions, half of them cubs, over the last ten days, officials said.

One lioness died after preying on a poisoned boar while eight other lions died of an infection in the lungs and livers.

Three cubs were killed in infighting while three others died during treatment.

Officials have sent the carcasses to a veterinary hospital for further analysis into the cause of infection.

"Primarily the deaths appear due to natural causes or some infection," Vijay Chaudhary, forest department official, told AFP.

Listed as critically endangered in the year 2000, wild Asiatic lions reside only in one Indian forest, the Gir Sanctuary, which spreads over 1,400 square kilometers in the western state of Gujarat.

The lions, a major tourist attraction in the state, have been a target of poachers in the past.

Experts said that the deaths cannot be dismissed as part of a natural cycle.

"There needs to be some preventive action by tracking the pride of lions in the area and checking them for infections," Priyavrat Gadhvi, a wildlife expert and members of state wildlife board in Gujarat, told AFP.

According to the latest lion count done in 2015, there are 521 Asiatic lions, about 10 of them died in floods in 2016.

Source(s): AFP