Representative image of a male Asiatic lion.
Credit: iStock Photo
Ahmedabad: A lion was killed after being hit by a passenger train in Amreli district ON Wednesday night. Officials said that the lion died during treatment on Thursday. This incident once again brings the spotlight on safety of Asiatic lions and lack of preventive measures.
Forest officials said that last night at around 10:40, a passenger train which runs between Mahuva and Surat ran over a lion near Bhesan between Liliya and Damnagar stations.
Deputy Conservation of Forest, Shetrunji Wildlife Division, Jayan Patel told reporters that the male lion, aged about ten years, died during treatment at an animal care centre.
Earlier this year, the Gujarat High Court had taken suo motu cognisance after two lions were killed in a similar accident.
Following the high court's instructions, the authorities came up with a standard operating procedure (SoP) by restricting the train speed to less than 40 kmph to avoid accidents.
The SoP covered the 90 km stretch of railway lines covering Gir (east) wildlife division, Shetrunji Wildlife Division and Amreli Social Forestry Division in Amreli district.
In the last year, at least half-a-dozen lions have been killed in collisions with trains.