VZCZCXRO4973
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHNE #1214/01 1260415
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050415Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1577
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 1951
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2138
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 2840
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, OES/ETC, OES/ENV, AND SCA/INS 
STATE PASS TO NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 
INTERIOR FOR FRED BAGLEY AND MINI NAGENDRAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV IN
SUBJECT:  WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN INDIA'S GUJARAT STATE YIELDS 
IMPRESSIVE DIVIDENDS BUT PRIDE LEAVES LIONS EXPOSED 
 
Ref A: 2007 New Delhi 2027 
 
NEW DELHI 00001214  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  In a recent trip covering the length and breadth of 
Gujarat State, EmbOffs met with state wildlife officials to discuss 
lessons learned from the 2007 poaching of Asiatic lions in Gir 
National Park, as well as the current state of wildlife conservation 
in India's westernmost state.  EmbOffs learned that a combination of 
strong political will, education, and culture has put Gujarat at the 
forefront of cutting edge conservation in India while paradoxically 
leaving the Asiatic lion in a dangerously exposed position.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  In separate meetings in Gandhinagar, Junagarh, Sasan-Gir, and 
Jamnagar, Emboffs met with Mr. Pradeep Khanna, Principal Chief 
Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Mr. Keshav Kumar, Inspector 
General of Police and head of Gujarat's Wildlife Crime Cell, Mr. 
Bharat Pathak, Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Director of Gir 
National Park (GNP), Mr. D.S. Narve, Conservator of Forests and 
Former Director of GNP, and Mr. Raja, a Deputy Forest Officer, to 
discuss wildlife conservation and specifically the situation of the 
world's last remaining wild Asiatic lions, all of which are located 
in Gujarat. 
 
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COMBATING POACHING 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  In 2007, poachers killed eight Asiatic lions in an attempt to 
pass off lion bone, for which there is no market, as the highly 
prized tiger bone which is an illegal ingredient in Traditional 
Chinese Medicine (Ref A).  The poaching took place in Gir National 
Park and marked the first time Asiatic lions were subject to 
poaching as a substitute for tigers.  The response of the Gujarat 
authorities was swift and nine poachers, all of whom were from the 
neighboring state of Madhya Pradesh, were arrested.  There have been 
no incidents of lion poaching since.  Chief Conservator Khanna and 
Inspector General Kumar claimed the reason for the success was the 
keen personal interest and intervention of Chief Minister Modi which 
led to an unusual level of interdepartmental cooperation between the 
Forest Department and the Gujarat Police.  While EmbOffs clearly 
felt undercurrents of competition and disagreement when talking to 
officials of the two organizations, there was also a strong 
willingness to rise above personal rivalries to ensure the safety of 
the lions.  In part, this is due to direct pressure from Chief 
Minister Modi.  Khanna informed EmbOffs that Modi personally attends 
Forest Department meetings with local communities to sort out 
complaints and issues and Kumar credited his popularity and interest 
for the active support of local communities who provided information 
leading to the arrest of the poachers. 
 
¶4.  Political will has also been driving Gujarat's extremely 
proactive efforts to combat future poaching.  At a time when India's 
highly publicized tiger parks haven't been able to hire new forest 
guards in decades, Gujarat has hired 100 new forest guards to 
protects its lions with an additional 50 supervisors slated for 
employment.  The Gujarat State government has also released USD 10 
million to provide better equipment to forest guards as well as for 
the installation of high-tech monitoring equipment operated via a 
centralized control room to protect GNP's lions. 
 
¶5.  Khanna told EmbOffs that the efforts of Chief Minister Modi 
toward conserving the lions cannot be underestimated.  He recounted 
an incident in which Modi, on one of his many visits to GNP, quizzed 
Khanna on the availability of water in the park.  He then asked 
Khanna to supply him with photographs and GPS coordinates for each 
of the over 200 watering holes within GNP.  Khanna and his team 
complied and presented Modi with the information within 15 days. 
 
------------------------------------- 
WATER WELLS AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  In the last six years as many as 50 incidents of lions falling 
into open wells have been recorded.  This has led to the death of 
approximately 25 adults and a smaller number of sub-adults, 
according to Director Pathak.  The wells were dug by farmers as a 
source of water for irrigation and livestock and are approximately 
10 feet in diameter and up to 100 feet deep.  They are not marked 
and have no rails or boundary walls.  There are approximately 9000 
such wells within five-kilometers of GNP.  EmbOffs examined such a 
well and it was immediately obvious how dangerous the wells were to 
any species walking near one at night.  Realizing the danger, the 
Gujarat Forest Department put in place an innovative plan leveraging 
the passion of a local NGO and the corporate social responsibility 
 
NEW DELHI 00001214  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
of companies such as Essar and Reliance, and has obtained funding to 
build barrier walls around 2000 wells with additional funding 
actively being sought. 
 
¶7.  While human-animal conflict has played a large role in the 
decline of India's tiger population, for reasons specific to both 
lions and Gujarat, it has not had much of an impact on the Asiatic 
lion according to all of the officials interviewed.  Director Pathak 
elaborated on the history of conservation and the current sustained 
efforts to protect the Asiatic lions and other endangered species in 
Gujarat.  Citing education as an example, Director Pathak stated the 
State Forest Department conducts over a hundred public awareness 
workshops each year with various stakeholders and have been doing so 
for the past thirty years.  The multi-day workshops are tailored to 
their audiences which include villagers, semi-urban populations, 
students, and the judiciary.  This has led to a greater 
understanding of both the lion's role in the ecosystem and its 
behavior which is markedly different from the much feared tiger.  It 
is not unusual to see local people, and even the occasional tourist 
accompanied by a forest guard, on the ground in GNP standing within 
20 to 30 feet of sleeping lions.  This does not occur in tiger 
sanctuaries where the solitary and aggressive nature of tigers 
stands in stark contrast to the social and relatively relaxed 
behavior of Asiatic lions. 
 
¶8.  Education and experience has resulted in great pride in 
Gujarat's wildlife and the willingness of local people to aid in 
protecting it.  The strong and palpable positivism of Gujaratis 
towards wildlife is also thanks in part to religious sentiments and 
the culture of vegetarianism as 80% of all Gujaratis are vegetarian 
including the Maldhari community that resides inside GNP.  According 
to Deputy Forest Officer Raja, when a lion does kill a villager's 
livestock, the villager considers it an offering.  Raja noted the 
Forest Department's longstanding and efficiently implemented policy 
of quickly paying compensation to the villager also helps to reduce 
villager retribution against lions. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
DISEASE AND THE EFFORT TO RELOCATE LIONS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  As early as 1993, scientists from the Wildlife Institute of 
India (WII) determined Gujarat's Asiatic lions were under threat of 
being wiped out by disease (Ref A).  As a safeguard, WII suggested 
moving part of the population to the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary in 
neighboring Madhya Pradesh (MP).  Although both the MP and Gujarat 
state governments agreed to the move, Gujarat later reneged claiming 
Kuno-Palpur wasn't suitable.  Since then, the central government has 
spent almost a decade and over USD 6.4 million in preparing 
Kuno-Palpur to receive lions.  Still, Gujarat refuses.  Emboffs 
questioned the logic of keeping the entire population of Asiatic 
lions in one location.  Although all of the officials interviewed 
readily conceded it was scientifically correct to split the 
population, all also stated Gujarat was not going to give up its 
lions. 
 
¶10.  Chief Conservator Khanna and Inspector General Kumar both 
commented on the fact that all of the poachers involved in the 2007 
incidents came from Madhya Pradesh and questioned the validity of 
moving lions to a state infamous for poaching tigers.  Khanna and 
Pathak also went to great lengths to explain the efforts undertaken 
by the Forest Department to ensure the safety of the lions in the 
event of disease.  They stated it was a misconception that all of 
the Asiatic lions were confined to Gir National Park as there were 
two other semi-contiguous areas within 100 kilometers with small 
wild lion populations of approximately 20 animals each.  Khanna went 
on to state the Forest Department has set up three lion breeding 
centers in collaboration with and funded by the Central Zoo 
Authority of India claiming this was sufficient to safeguard the 
population.  Former GNP Director Narve explained the situation in 
more human terms stating the Gujarati psyche is geared towards lion 
and wildlife conservation and since lions are not found anywhere 
else in India, people outside Gujarat do not understand their 
behavior.  He fears that if they are relocated, the lions will be at 
a risk from human settlements living around Kuno-Palpur. 
 
¶11.  Thanks to the efforts of the Bio-Diversity Conservation Trust, 
an NGO who has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the 
relocation issue is now before the Indian Supreme Court.  The 
lawsuit requests the court to direct Gujarat to transfer a viable 
breeding population to Kuno-Palpur in accordance with the WII 
recommendations.  Despite the suit, the Gujarat government stands 
firm in its position against relocation.  According to press 
reports, the Gujarat Forest Minister has stated he will request 
 
NEW DELHI 00001214  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Chief Minister Modi to take up the issue with MP Chief Minister 
Chouhan in order to persuade him not to press for the relocation of 
the lions. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶12.  Although Gujarat exemplifies what political will, education, 
and effective enforcement can do to protect wildlife, the 
justifiable pride Gujaratis feel in their conservation efforts 
stands in the way of ensuring the continued viability of the Asiatic 
lion.  Despite the scientific evidence, with which they openly 
agree, Gujarat's wildlife officials steadfastly maintain that only 
Gujaratis can protect the lion.  The PIL filed by the Bio-Diversity 
Conservation Trust will more than likely result in a ruling in favor 
of relocation but the impact Chief Minister Modi can have on his 
fellow BJP Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh cannot be discounted. 
 
MULFORD