Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The ambitious project of Van Vihar to get four Asiatic Lions from Gujarat in exchange for a pair of tigers seems to have hit a rough patch. The Van Vihar authorities have identified the pair of tigers to be given to Gujarat under animal exchange programme but Gujarat snail’s pace move is leaving Van Vihar officials puzzled.
“For Gujarat government, the Asiatic Lions are a matter of huge pride and to get them here is an uphill task. The reason is that Gujarat doesn’t agree so easily to share its Asiatic Lions with any other states. It seems that we have to pursue Gujarat for long,” said a senior officer of Van Vihar.
The officer said almost ten days back, a senior forest officer of Gujarat had come to attend a programme at IIFM in Bhopal. He also visited the Van Vihar and saw the pair of tigers which have been identified to be given to Gujarat, he added.
The officer further said that he had interacted with Gujarat forest officer during his Van Vihar visit but failed to get anything substantial from him regarding the aforesaid ambitious project. The project will move close to realization when the two states submit the proposal to Central Zoo Authority (CZA) that they are ready for the exchange of animals. So far, things on the part of Gujarat are moving at a slow place.
In Gujarat, the forest officers need permission from the CM office for exchange of Asiatic Lions and it is a complicated process. It is learnt that if the project sees the light of the day in future then Van Vihar will get Asiatic Lions through the medium of Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation. The four Asiatic Lions are to be selected from Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden (Junagarh-Gujarat). Sources said that in the past, a team of Gujarat, comprising a veterinary doctor had visited Van Vihar and examined the pair of tigers.
