Examine the challenges of managing human-wildlife coexistence as endangered species disperse beyond formally protected areas, with reference to the Asiatic lion in Gujarat.

Q. Examine the challenges of managing human-wildlife coexistence as endangered species disperse beyond formally protected areas, with reference to the Asiatic lion in Gujarat. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

The 2025 lion estimation recorded 891 Asiatic lions spread over roughly 35,000 sq. km across eleven Saurashtra districts, with nearly half living outside the Gir protected area [1]. Success has thus shifted the task from guarding a park to governing a shared, human-dominated landscape.

Conflict and the limits of community tolerance - Lions now range over farmland, grasslands and coastal tracts, raising livestock predation and night-time safety concerns; delayed or inadequate compensation quickly erodes goodwill. - Coexistence rests on local tolerance, not fences — an intangible asset that a single high-profile attack can reverse.

Weak legal and spatial protection outside PAs - Dispersal habitats and corridors largely lie on revenue and private land, without sanctuary notification under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. - Farm expansion, highways, railways and open wells cause avoidable mortality and fragment connectivity between satellite populations.

Disease and single-landscape vulnerability - Contact with livestock and feral dogs outside protected zones raises epidemic risk, as the canine distemper outbreak in Gir demonstrated. - With one free-ranging population, a single epidemic or natural disaster threatens the whole subspecies, prompting gene pool centres at Rampara and Satvirda and development of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary as a second habitat [3].

Administrative and capacity gaps - Forest staff hold limited jurisdiction over revenue land; rapid rescue, veterinary response and regulation of unauthorised "lion shows" and tourism strain existing capacity. - Coordination is required across forest, revenue, police, agriculture and infrastructure agencies — the rationale for Project Lion's landscape-scale "Zone Plans and Theme Plans" for the Greater Gir Region [2].

Coexistence, not enclosure, is now the operative model of Indian conservation. The way forward lies in securing corridors as legally recognised conservation reserves, prompt compensation, disease surveillance and ICT-based tracking through the National Referral Centre–Wildlife at Junagadh [3], and eco-development that makes local communities beneficiaries [2]. Sustained community participation, credited for the 32% rise since 2020 [4], must remain the foundation — aligning the Article 48A duty to protect wildlife with SDG-15 on life on land.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. PIB — Parliament Question: Population of Asiatic Lions in Gir Forests — 2025 estimate of 891 lions; spread across Saurashtra districts 2. PIB — Asiatic Lion Conservation Project, Rs 97.85 crore central contribution — Greater Gir Zone Plans/Theme Plans; eco-development and people's participation 3. PIB — Parliamentary Question: Rehabilitation of Asiatic Lions in Major Disaster — gene pool centres at Rampara and Satvirda; Barda as second habitat; disease surveillance, ICT tracking, National Referral Centre–Wildlife, Junagadh 4. PIB — PM Modi's Leadership Roars Behind Project Lion's Triumph (World Lion Day 2025) — 32% population rise from 674 (2020) to 891; role of community participation