(Gujarat Forest Department)
A pride of 10 lions entered a gaushala and preyed on 10 cows in Arab Timbadi village of Jetpur taluka of Rajkot district early on Tuesday. A team of forest department that was tracking the pride, however, reached the spot and saved 25 other cattle heads in the gaushala.
This is the third instance of lions being spotted in Rajkot district in a month. Seven lions were found camping in Thanagalol village of Jetpur taluka, 10 km north of Arab Timbadi last month, and three lions killed 14 cattle earlier this month in Jasdan taluka.
Arab Timbadi is some 10 km from the border of the Gir Wild Life Sanctuary (GWLS). Spread across Junagadh, Bhesan and Visavadar talukas of Junagadh district, GWLS is home to a few dozen Asiatic lions. However, over the past few years, lions have been dispersing out of the protected forest areas to densely populated revenue areas.