Coastal Asiatic lions depend mainly on wild prey, Gujarat study finds
Ahmedabad: Asiatic lions living along Gujarat’s coast depend primarily on wild prey, not livestock, challenging the long-held belief that lions outside the Gir Protected Area survive largely on domestic animals, according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Conservation.
The research found that wild prey made up 64% of the lions’ diet and nearly 70% of the biomass consumed. In contrast, livestock accounted for 31% of the diet and 30% of the biomass.
Among wild species, blue bull or nilgai was the largest contributor, making up 51% of the biomass consumed by lions. Wild pigs were the second most important wild prey. Among domestic animals, cattle formed the largest component of livestock prey.
Researchers said the findings contradicted their original hypothesis. They had expected that lions living in human-dominated coastal landscapes would rely more heavily on livestock due to limited availability of wild prey.
The study suggests that coastal habitats still support enough wild prey to sustain lions, and that conservation of these prey species is key to reducing human-lion conflict outside protected areas.
