NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the Gujarat and the Central governments over the death of 23 lions in the state’s Gir Forest in the last 20 days.
“This is extremely serious...so many lions have died,” observed a Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur while hearing a PIL relating to preservation of forests in the country.
“Lions must be protected. Why so many deaths...you must find out the reasons and do something to stop it,” the court told Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni.
The government’s law officer said he was not aware about the details of the issue and sought some time to look into the matter and come back to the court with a reply.
The Bench gave him a week’s time while also demanding an explanation from the Gujarat government over the cause of the lions’ deaths.The Bench, also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, asked the government to find out if the mysterious deaths were caused by “some kind of virus”. The Gujarat government had on Monday said some of the lions died due to a viral infection.