Watch Video: Lions walk into Junagarh city, sent back to Gir Sanctuary

A screengrab of the viral video

A video showing pride of about seven lions roaming around a city road in Junagadh, Gujarat has gone viral on the internet. The video was captured by a passerby on Friday night near Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Since then, the video has been shared widely on social media.

On Thursday, the Gujarat forest department took to Twitter and shared a video where they said that a pride of lions was spotted in Junagadh's residential area. According to the forest department officials, the pride comprised of about seven lions. The video which has now gone viral was shot by a resident of Bharti Ashram in Bhavnath area, the tweet said.

The tweet by the Gujarat forest department also stated that in the past too, residents reported that such incidents have become a regular sight in their vicinity. Junagadh, which is located about 100 kms away from the commercial capital of Saurashtra is situated close to the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary.

According to officials sources, the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary is home to over 40 Asiatic lions. According to news agency ANI, the lions must have come towards the city from the forest area in search of food and shelter due to heavy rainfall in the area.

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While speaking to News 18 Dr. Sunil Kumar Berwal, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Junagadh said, "Lions often come out of the Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary and are found roaming on the roads near Girnar Taleti road as it's close to the sanctuary in Junagadh. It's a natural phenomenon here. This is a lions' corridor and they come out during the night and return to the wild. The forest department keeps a tab on the lions' movement and if needed rescue the wild animals and release them back to the wild to avoid human-wildlife conflicts."

Later, Dr. Sunil Kumar Berwal, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Junagadh in his tweet said that the lions of Girnar Sanctuary are safe and also mentioned that it is a natural behaviour of the lions in Girnar. The pride of lions were taken back to the Sanctuary after locals informed the Junagadh forest officials.

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With inputs from ANI

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