Global News - October 2007

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Five rare lions electrocuted

Tue 23 October 2007 17:00 UK — Asia,Big Cats

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An illegal electric fence has killed five rare lions on the edge of western India's Gir National Park, reports suggest.

Pradeep Khanna, Gujarat state's chief wildlife warden, told the Associated Press (AP) that it was thought the Asiatic lions were killed when they came into contact with an electric fence put up by a local farmer to protect his crops.

He explained that the farmer had already been arrested and could face several years in prison if found guilty of having erected the fence which killed the animals.

Local wildlife workers said that these deaths brought the total number of Asiatic lions killed in the region this year to 32.

Of these, six were killed by electrified fences and eight died at the hands of poachers.

"The Asiatic lion is one of the most critically endangered species on this planet and this added twist of so many lions being killed by electrocution from crop protection fencing is a catastrophe," wildlife worker Belinda Wright told the news agency.

Only around 300 Asiatic lions are thought to survive in the wild. It is suspected that all these creatures are descended from just 13 individuals; raising the possibility that interbreeding could lead to disease in the future.

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