Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
This video shows villagers from Gujarat’s Gir, dangle a live rooster before a three-year old lioness. They taunt the animal by holding back the bird as she salivates.
A woman in the background warns them not to tease the animal saying that she may attack but in vain.
Chief conservator of forests and wildlife, D T Vasavada, says that these lions do not attack the villagers, perhaps, because they have gotten used to getting their food like this. He also mentions how the video shows that this is a standard routine for them.
Conducting illegal lion shows to entertain tourists is a thriving business in the area. Touts offer close encounters with lions and the tourists fall for that, unmindful of the risks attached.Mayank Bhatt, Lion Expert
Indian forest officials arrested seven men for conducting illegal lion-shows where a three-year-old lioness was trained to take treats like a dog.
The video was found on the mobile phones of the seven men, who were arrested on May 19.
One of accused had allegedly spotted the lioness in his farm in Gir Gadhada, Gujarat when she was a cub and had managed to train her.
Notably, Gir forest area in Gujarat is the only habitat of the Asiatic lions, whose numbers stand at just 650, according to a 2015 census.
With Inputs From AP
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