Gujarat: Lioness drowns in sea; officials say incident 'uncommon', rule out foul play

Amreli, Feb 17 (PTI) A lioness was found dead in a coastal village in Gujarat's Amreli district, with the authorities saying that her death was caused due to drowning in the Arabian Sea.

Officials said that a lion drowning in the sea was not a very common phenomenon, but ruled out any foul play in the incident.

The carcass of the lioness, in the age group of five to nine years, was found along the coast of Dhara Bandar village in Jafrabad range forest area in the evening of February 15, in-charge Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Junagadh, K Ramesh, said on Saturday.

"Her post-mortem ascertained that the feline died of drowning. During the examination of the carcass, her nails and teeth were found intact, following which it was sent for post-mortem," he said.

The post-mortem revealed that water had entered the lungs of the lioness, he added.

"So it is definitely a case of drowning," the official said.

The visceral organ sampleS of the deceased big cat have been sent to a forensic laboratory for further analysis, he said.

"There was no indication of any foul play...There are cases when lions are found drowned in coastal regions, but this is something which is not very common," he added.

Gujarat is the world's last abode of Asiatic lions.

The lions are now distributed in nine districts of the state - Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Surendranagar - covering around 30,000 square km of area, which is termed the Asiatic Lion Landscape.

A total of 239 lions, including 126 cubs, died in Gujarat in the last two years, and 29 of these fatalities were due to unnatural causes, Forest Minister Mulubhai Bera told the state assembly earlier this month.

As per the last census conducted in June 2020, Gujarat is home to 674 Asiatic lions. PTI