Conservation Around the World 225

forelegs, are brown. The tail-tuft is black and there is a black stripe extending from the shoulder to just above the 'knee'. This subspecies was once abundant in Somalia, but is now believed to be extinct outside Ethiopia, where the total known population is around 6-700 in four separate localities.

widely distributed at least from Palestine and Asia Minor across Persia etc. to India (IUCN, 1968).

Among the most conspicuous and common floristic elements in the Gir Forest are: Tectona grandis (teak, sag), Terminalia crenulata (sajad), Wrightia tinctoria (mitho indrajav), Dalbergia latifolia (sisam), Sterculia urens (kadai), Bombax ceiba (shimlo), Acacia nilotica (baval), Zizyphus mauritiana (bor), Zizyphus num- mularia, Tamarindus indica (tamarind, ambli), Ficus benghalensis (banyan, vad), Erythrina suberosa, Sac- charum spontaneum (kans), and Barleria prattensis (cf. Santapau & Raizada, 1954).

Fig. 1. Swayne's hartebeest (Alcephalus buselaphus swaynei) in typical open savanna habitat in Ethiopia in July 1973. Note the characteristic shape and backward-hooking

of the horns. Photo: Dr F. Vollmar/ WWF.

Mr Bolton has also made recommendations for conservation of the Swayne's hartebeests in the Shashamanne area, to the north of Lake Chamo near Lake Shala, which could serve for future translocations to National Parks. This is the largest existing popula- tion of the antelope, but it is threatened by growing cultivation and stock-grazing. Protection has also been recommended for Swayne's hartebeest in the Yavello and Cuchia areas, which are also in southern Ethiopia.

PETER F. R. JACKSON, Director of Information, World Wildlife Fund International, 1110 Morges, Switzerland

CONSERVATION OF THE ASIATIC LION: NOW LIMITED TO GUJARAT STATE, INDIA

That the Gir Forest in Gujarat State is to be con- verted into a National Park is certainly good news at this time of concern about the reduction of the Gir lion population. For the Gir Forest and its surrounding land is the only remaining abode of the Asiatic lion, Panthera leo persica (Fig. 1), which formerly was

Fig. 1. Panthera leo persica in Gir Wild Life Sanctuary; lioness and cub on area of teak leaf-litter. Photo: Afitsinh C.

Gaekwad.

With a view to its use in ascertaining the diet-plants of the native herbivores, Satakopan (1972) prepared a diagnostic 'key' using the microscopic characters of the plant debris present in the droppings of the four- horned antelope or chowsingha (Tetracerus quadricor- his), the nilgai or blue bull (Boselaphus tragocamelus), the sambar (Cervus unicolor), the chinkara or Indian gazelle (Gazella gazella), the chital or spotted deer (Axis axis), the blackbuck or Indian antelope (Antilope cervicapra), and the Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis simcoxi), in the Gir Forest. She was able to identify the following, Acacia suma, Acacia leucophlaea (pilo baval, harmo), Anogeissus latifolia (dhamodo), Bau- hinia racemosa (asundro, assatari, sonu), Boswellia serrata (gugal), Butea monosperma (kesudo, khakharo), Diospyros melanoxylon (timbru), Emblica officinalis (amalan), Helicteres isora (marada shing), Neuracan- thus sphaerostachyus, Randia spinosa (mindhal), Sapindus emarginatus (aritha), Soymida febrifuga (royan), Tectona grandis (teak, sag), Terminalia bellirica (baida, beheda), Wrightia tinctoria (mitho indrajav), Zizyphus mauritiana (bor), and several species of Gramineae.

226

The Gir vegetation and environmental conditions are closely related to the presence of the lions, for because of the lions we started protecting the forest in a manner which ultimately accounted for its good growth. Now the time has come when, in order to protect the lions, we have to be more careful in pre- serving the forest area as a whole. At the beginning of the present century, the area of the Gir Forest was about 1,000 sq miles (2,590 sq kin); two decades ago it had shrunk to about 500 sq miles (according to P. N. Deogun, then Chief Conservator of Forests). Latterly, the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary has had an area of about 800 sq km (309 sq miles) (Dharmakumar- sinhji et al., 1970). On the authority of Paul Joslin, it houses 'at least 162' lions (IUCN, 1968). The 1969 census of the Gir Forest lion population reported the number to be somewhere near 177. We have to ensure that the forest area does not diminish and, indeed, that it increases gradually. If we can achieve this, the Gir Forest will be one of the greatest financial assets of Gujarat State, with the visits of foreign naturalists earning needed foreign exchange.

In recent years the destructive activities of man have greatly limited the natural habitat in Gir Forest, so that bold attempts to find a second home for some of the surviving Asiatic lions are to be made in Rajasthan State. On the other hand, it has been officially acknow- ledged that the Gir lion breeding experiment started by the Uttar Pradesh Government in the 80-sq-km Chandraprabha Sanctuary has failed, as not a single lion appears to exist there. Now some Gir lions are to be housed in the 35-sq-km Borivilli National Park of Maharashtra State. The Tourism Department of the Government of India proposes to set up lion safari parks in the suburbs of Bombay, Hyderabad, Madras, and Bangalore. Yet the introduction of lions into an area should only be attempted if they formerly existed in that area, and if the ecological and general environ- mental conditions are conducive to their survival. This seems highly problematical as the forests are dwindling, natural prey has started vanishing, and there is a lot of 'human interference' even in the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary.

The Expert Committee of the Indian Board for Wildlife headed by Dharmakumarsinhji (1970) has rightly recommended that all attempts should be made to preserve the habitat of the Asiatic lion in the Gir Forest, and that the lion should be protected in its present home rather than be introduced into other, unsafe areas.

Overgrazing by domestic cattle in the area of the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary has had very bad effects. Apart from the competition for food, what is the guarantee that the cattle do not transmit diseases to the wildlife in general and to the lions in particular? This has

Biological Conservation

become more of a threat in recent years as the lions are regularly fed on buffalo calves during the much- publicized 'Lion Show', when the same lions are apt to turn up repeatedly and thus become adapted to 'artificial food' from livestock rather than depend upon their natural prey--wild herbivores--whlch are gradually becoming scarce.

The 'Lion Show' and undesirable human activities in the Gir Forest have effected a considerable behav- iourat change in the Gir lions. How long this can be permitted is a problem for the ecologists to ponder. The present author is of the opinion that the practice of feeding the lions with livestock should be done away with very soon. Even cultivation has crept into the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary along the valley floors (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. The Gir lion is deprived o f its rightful land: a Maldhari farmer in front o f a cultivated area in the Gir

WiM Life Sanctuary. Photo: Prof. T. A. Davis.

This has damaged the Gir Forest to a great extent, serving neither the purpose of good cultivation nor the basic principles of forestry. Such policies are in a way detrimental to the interests of the nation and should, therefore, be discouraged: it will be a fortunate day indeed for the Gir lions when the cultivated land is recovered and allowed to form an integral part of the Sanctuary.

If we cut down our forests and convert these into farms, we shall have to witness quick successions lead- ing towards desert conditions. We do have an urgent need to conserve habitats. Cultivation, grazing, and felling of trees, amount to destruction of the soil-- with the result that its composition is changed, its absorptive power is lessened, and complicated problems of erosion and silting have to be faced.

The Gir Forest is utilized as 'pasture land' by Maldharis as well as for farming. This is undesirable also: for the cattle destroy the young trees, and under older trees there may not be good grass for the wildlife. In these circumstances we have to face poor pasture and the gradual decline of forests; instead, we should avoid such practices.

Fitter (1970) reports the findings of Paul Joslin, student of the Asiatic lion in India since 1968: 'The

Conservation Around the Worm 227

most serious adverse factor affecting them (lions) is the considerable overgrazing by domestic stock in this small (500 square miles) area: 112 villages and hamlets, some 5,000 people, and 21,000 domestic animals, with an additional 30,000 brought in during the monsoon when forage outside is scarce, and 450,000 in areas bordering the Sanctuary, pose a considerable problem. The inevitable result is the crowding out of the wildlife; chital, sambar, nilgai, chinkara, and four- horned antelope, the lions' natural prey, are all scarce, and the lions are driven to living on the (far from scarce) domestic stock. Joslin's preliminary analyses of lion droppings suggested that 90 per cent of the lions' prey was cattle . . . . '

In view of all this, could we not locate suitable pasture-lands where we could establish the Maldhari- complex? If our endeavours met with success, we would save the Maldhari race, which is facing survival problems in the Gir (because of malaria); we would save the Asiatic lion from possible extermination and with considerable advantages available from about 501,000 domestic animals, we might set up a cooperative dairy industry on the pattern of our established dairies. This would provide work for numerous unemployed people. But the forest with its indigenous elements must be maintained.

Let the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary preserve our heritage--the plants and the wildlife. From the entire Sanctuary an area of only about 25 sq miles (65 sq kin) is to be declared a National Park (Dharmakumar- sinhji et al., 1970)! Is this small area ever to fulfil the conservation of the Asiatic lion? This is a national issue: and the present author, as a solemn duty, warns the authorities concerned and all others who are interested that the natural habitat of the Asiatic lion is threatened with destruction.

References

DHARMAKUMARSINHJI, K. S., GHORPADE, Y. R., FUTEHALLY, Zafar, KRISHNAN, M., DANG, Hari, SINGH, V. B. & SANKHALA, K. S. (1970). Wildlife Conservation in India--Report of the Expert Committee. Indian Board for Wildlife, Dehra Dun: pp. 37, 73--4.

FITTER, Maisie (1970). Wildlife problems in India: Report from the IUCN Assembly in New Delhi. Oryx, 10(4), p. 230.

SATAKOPAN, Savitha (1972). Keys to the identification of plant remains in animal droppings. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 69, pp. 139-50.

G. M. OZA, General Education Centre, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University of Baroda, Baroda 2, India

LA CIGOGNE BLANCHE EN BELGIQUE

Le 13 mai 1973--1e~im~le ~tait d6jS. sur place le 11 mai--un couple de Cigognes blanches (Ciconia ciconia) s'est install6 et b. nich6 pour la seconde ann6e cons6cutive ~t Hachy dans la Lorraine beige (au sud de la province du Luxernbourg et quelque douze kilo- metres de la fronti~re du Grand Duch6). En 1972 deux cigogneaux s'&aient envol6s, et en 1973 un seul a vu le jour. Tr6s oh&if, il n'a pas pu partir en migration et sera remis h la R6serve Ornithologique du Zwin.

Si l 'on consid~re que depuis 1895 cette esp6ce avait d6sert6 la Belgique, que les cigognes r6gressent sur tout le flanc occidental de leur aire de distribution et tout particuli6rement dans les pays limitrophes, l'6v~nement de Hachy m~rite d'etre mentionn6.

D'autre part la R6serve Ornithologique du Zwin (Knokke), ancien bras de mer ensabl6, situ6 /t la limite meridionale de la region du Delta commun du Rhin, de la Meuse et de l'Escaut, abrite depuis de nombreuses ann6es une population de cigognes en captivit6. En 1965, avec le contours du World Wildlife Fund-Belgium, huit cigogneaux furent introduits, originaires du Portugal (Algarve) et du Maroc (r6gion de Mekn~s). Grfice h cet apport, la nidification a 6t6 stimul6e et, en effet, les cigognes se reproduisent depuis lors r6guli6rement au Zwin avec plus ou moins de succ6s, selon les conditions m6t6orologiques de la p6riode de reproduction. I1 s'agit donc d'une popula- tion implant6e, nourrie et maintenue de fa~on arti- ficielle. En 1973 il y avait 21 cigognes adultes et 7 nids: 8 jeunes ont 6t6 61ev6s. Jusqu'ici ce noyau n'a pas essaim6, mais pour 6viter une surpopulation locale il est envisag6 d'implanter de jeunes cigognes ~t d'autres endroits favorables en Belgique.

IUCN (1966 etc.). Survival Service Commission Red Data Book on the Endangered Mammals and Birds of India. IUCN, Morges: loose-leaf.

SANTAPAU, H. & RAIZADA, M. B. (1954). Contributions to the flora of the Gir Forest in Saurashtra. Indian Forest, 80, pp. 379-89.

EDGAR KESTELOOT, Chef du D~partement de la Conservation de la Nature, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 31 rue Vantier, B-1040 Bruxelles, Belgique