Pugmarks of two lions have been found near a village some 20 kilometres away from Rajkot, with officials on Tuesday stating that the duo is from Gir Forest and were spotted on Sunday in nearby Gondal area.
An increase in the population of the big cats in Gir, their last abode in Asia, has seen them walk to claim new territory and they have been spotted in areas in Amreli, Junagadh and Gir Somnath, officials said.
Lions have been spotted as late as November last year in forests in Chotila in Surendranagar as well as Vinchhiya and Jasdan in Rajkot, these being among the first sightings of the big cats in the region in a long time, the officials added.
"The pugmarks of two lions were found on Monday near Tramba village, some 20 kilometres from Rajkot city. Villagers claim to have spotted them in Gondal, some 40 kilometres from Rajkot, on Sunday. Lions are known to cover 20-25 kilometres overnight," said Rajkot DFO PT Shiyani.
Rajkot is over 200 kilometres from Ahmedabad and some 170 kilometres from Gir Forest.
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He said forest teams have spread out on the route but have not spotted the two lions so far, adding that the duo may have moved towards Jasdan, some 60 kilometres from Rajkot.
"At times, they make brief visits to far-off areas before moving back towards their habitat," Shiyani added.
As per the state forest department's last census held in 2015, there were 523 lions, including 310 adults, in the state, their numbers having doubled since 1979.
While lions are mainly found in Junagadh, Amreli, Gir Somnath and Bhavnagar, other districts in the state like Rajkot, Porbandar, Botad and Jamnagar, near the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, are also included in the Asiatic lion landscape, officials said.
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