UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The lion is at the peak of the ecological pyramid and majorly affects the food chain by controlling the population of animals at the lower trophic levels. Gir National Park, India, is the only place in the world except Africa where an Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) can be seen in its natural habitat due to its dry and deciduous forest. Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) are confined to Gir, Gujarat, India and its population started declining from 1936 to 1979 by almost 40% of the total population because of deadly diseases, habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans. The total number of lions in 1970 was reported to be around 177. This led to the threat of extinction of the lion species, so therefore, the project lion was launched for conservation in 1972, with the implementation of laws banning trophy hunting, poaching, relocating native humans to reduce human-lion conflict, protecting the boundaries of the national park to avoid exploitation and restricting human interaction, reducing anthropogenic activity, and the formation of a research and conservation centre. The project's purpose was to bring the dwindling lion population, bringing it back from the brink of extinction in response to successful conservation efforts. Because of the efforts and implementation of Project Lion, the lion population currently stands at 674.