One of the animal trackers, known as 'puggies', sits with a pride of lions at Gir. (TOI photo: Bhushan Pandya)
AMRELI:
Bhimji Mehta, 35, wades through a swamp in Savarkundla in Gujarat's
Amreli district in search of the king of the jungle. Ravaged by last
week's floods, unprecedented in 90 years, this part of Saurashtra is home to about 75 Asiatic lions — many of them dead or marooned.
Looking at tell-tale signs, visible only to him, Mehta tracks down a hungry and weak lioness that has taken shelter on high ground to escape the swirling waters of Shetrunji river. The traumatized big cat is tranquilized by foresters who are following Mehta and appears to be responding well to treatment.
A crack team of 15 expert animal trackers, locally known as puggies, has launched a massive hunt to trace beleaguered big cats struggling to survive the floods that have killed 11 of them so far. Many of them fourth generation trackers, their mission is to locate carcasses or lions in distress in the water-logged countryside. Nearly 39 lions, many of them famished for days, have been found by them in the last 48 hours since the waters abated.
In nearby Liliya, Mohammed Juna and Rahim Baloch, puggies from Sasan-Gir, are in hot pursuit of two lions. By looking at the depth and size of pug marks they tell foresters that the two lions, aged four and 10, have passed by only moments earlier.
"Waters are yet to recede completely and many lions must be hungry and struggling to find their way with their 100 kg weight in such difficult terrain," says Juna.
Fighting odds, including poisonous insects and reptiles, these trackers have put their lives on the line to locate the missing big cats by their pug marks, droppings, tufts of lion fur stuck on twigs, scratches on tree barks and leftovers of a prey.
"Their expertise and services are invaluable to us," says SC Pant, principal chief conservator of forest, wildlife. The forest department is counting on these men, who get only daily wages, to account for each lion in Amreli — dead or alive.
The lion kingdom of Gujarat has far outgrown the bounds of Gir wildlife sanctuary and the recent census put the Asiatic lion populace at an all-time high of 523. Like others in the gang, Juna (43) and Rahim (49) have inherited the skill of tracking lions from their forefathers. "These trackers know the forest like their backyard and they share a personal bond with big cats. They can identify the animals just by their roar," says Pant.
Puggies are also called 'shikaris' because they used to help the nawabs and British find lions to shoot. Life has come full circle for these once-aides-of-hunters who now play a critical role in conservation. Everyday at 5 am this tribe of fearless trackers walk into lion territory, armed with just a stick, calling out to the big cats.
Looking at tell-tale signs, visible only to him, Mehta tracks down a hungry and weak lioness that has taken shelter on high ground to escape the swirling waters of Shetrunji river. The traumatized big cat is tranquilized by foresters who are following Mehta and appears to be responding well to treatment.
A crack team of 15 expert animal trackers, locally known as puggies, has launched a massive hunt to trace beleaguered big cats struggling to survive the floods that have killed 11 of them so far. Many of them fourth generation trackers, their mission is to locate carcasses or lions in distress in the water-logged countryside. Nearly 39 lions, many of them famished for days, have been found by them in the last 48 hours since the waters abated.
In nearby Liliya, Mohammed Juna and Rahim Baloch, puggies from Sasan-Gir, are in hot pursuit of two lions. By looking at the depth and size of pug marks they tell foresters that the two lions, aged four and 10, have passed by only moments earlier.
"Waters are yet to recede completely and many lions must be hungry and struggling to find their way with their 100 kg weight in such difficult terrain," says Juna.
Fighting odds, including poisonous insects and reptiles, these trackers have put their lives on the line to locate the missing big cats by their pug marks, droppings, tufts of lion fur stuck on twigs, scratches on tree barks and leftovers of a prey.
"Their expertise and services are invaluable to us," says SC Pant, principal chief conservator of forest, wildlife. The forest department is counting on these men, who get only daily wages, to account for each lion in Amreli — dead or alive.
The lion kingdom of Gujarat has far outgrown the bounds of Gir wildlife sanctuary and the recent census put the Asiatic lion populace at an all-time high of 523. Like others in the gang, Juna (43) and Rahim (49) have inherited the skill of tracking lions from their forefathers. "These trackers know the forest like their backyard and they share a personal bond with big cats. They can identify the animals just by their roar," says Pant.
Puggies are also called 'shikaris' because they used to help the nawabs and British find lions to shoot. Life has come full circle for these once-aides-of-hunters who now play a critical role in conservation. Everyday at 5 am this tribe of fearless trackers walk into lion territory, armed with just a stick, calling out to the big cats.
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