Lion found dead in open well at Botad, carcass sent for autopsy | Ahmedabad News
Lion found dead in open well at Botad, carcass sent for autopsy | Ahmedabad News
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A sub-adult lioness allegedly drowned after falling in an open well on an agricultural field in Botad district’s Itariya village on Wednesday. This is the first death of lion reported in Botad after the district started recording regular movement of big cats around two years ago.
The incident came to light Wednesday morning when villagers informed the forest department that a lion carcass was floating in the well of a field belonging to Dahyabhai Makwana, skirting the Tarsingda hills in Itariya. “We rushed a team to the spot but the animal had died by the time we reached,” said Ayush Verma, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) of Botad social forestry division, adding thag the animal was a female sub-adult lion of around two years of age.
“The well is near hills and was not in use due to monsoon… The carcass has been shifted to a nearby facility of Shetrunji wildlife division in Amreli district for postmortem examination,” he said.
Itariya falls in Gadhada range of the Botad social forestry division, bordering Amreli district’s Babra taluka, which sees regular movement of Asiatic lions.
Indrakumar Prajapati, Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Gadhada, said the well where the lion fell is around 60 to 70 feet deep. “Prima facie, the incident took place on Tuesday night,” he added.
Verma said that the family of one lioness and two cubs had made the villages of Gadhada their home around two-and-a-half years ago.
“We took up initiatives like creating artificial water holes and sensitising local residents about the importance of lions and their habits. However, numerous wells in Gadhada are not covered and the taluka has not been included in the Greater Gir area so far, under which the government provides financial assistance to farmers for covering open wells,” he added.
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