The patrol’s job is to monitor the lions. Daily, they set out on their bikes and in their vehicles to check for any signs of injury, their wellbeing, and movement. Unlike many national parks, Gir National Park intervenes in the lives of their lions and other animals. If an Asiatic lion is injured, they’ll be darted, treated in a nearby veterinary hospital, and re-released into the wild.
The first ‘Lion Queen of India’, Rasila Vadher, who made history in 2008 as the first female forest guard in Gir, told the Deccan Herald, “We get calls like leopards entering villages, lions in distress, wild animals falling in wells, snakes entering homes and godowns. We have to respond to all kinds of situations and no two situations are identical.” Vadher, who has been involved in over 1,000 animal rescues, said, “The job is not only about rescue, it’s about nursing them to ensure that they are back and then releasing them.”
According to the Hindustan Times, over 10 lions have also been rescued from Diu, the busy coastal city with the nearest airport, after wandering out of Gir’s forests in the last six months because of population expansion. Like the case of the lion and her two cubs, not every lion is so lucky. To see this lioness and her two cubs in Gir is hopeful. Janvi Ashwinbhai Ratanghyara, a female guide in Gir National Park, said, “The lion’s have their own territory. One male lion has about 25 to 30 kilometers of territory area. The population is expanding. So they may be seen in Diu, and also they are finding new territory.”
