The Gir forest is a 1412 sq km National reserve and wildlife sanctuary for Asiatic Lions.
These Lions have gone down over the years. The Nawab of Junagadh decided to protect them At the start of the century there were only a dozen or so left, due to hunting by the British Colonial hunters and the Indian Royals. By inbreeding their numbers have been brought to a higher level over the years..Due to the local population called Maldharis living at the edge of forests, the cattles and other livestock feed in the area of reserve Overgrazing and cutting down of forest trees has reduced the area of reserve for this animal and has led to the dwindling of its natural prey making Lions highly vulnerable.
The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir forest of Gujarat, the sub-species that once ranged from Greece to central India Through the introduction of Lion breeding program, their numbers have been increased..
As per the census carried out in April 2010,411 lions are present which has increased from 52 in 2005.
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