AHMEDABAD: Gujarat has reported 62 lion, lioness and cub deaths linked to diseases during the year preceding July 31, 2026, the state Assembly was informed on Friday. The government listed pneumonia, anaemia, kidney and liver dysfunction, multi-organ failure, myocardial infarction and other illnesses among the reported causes.
While the figures highlight the scale of reported mortality, cubs emerged as the most affected group, accounting for 28 deaths -- nearly half of the total. According to a written reply by the state forest minister, of the total deaths, cubs recorded the highest mortality, with 28 deaths, accounting for 45.2% of the total.
Meanwhile, 17 male lions and 17 lionesses died, each representing 27.4% of the reported deaths. Together, adult lions accounted for 34 fatalities, while cub deaths alone made up nearly half of the total reported mortality. The data was furnished in response to a question raised by Congress MLA Shailesh Manubhai Parmar of Ahmedabad’s Danilimda area, who sought details of diseases affecting lions, resulting deaths and the government’s preventive measures.
However, the data needs to be read with caution. The government reply does not provide the total lion population in the affected area, age-wise mortality rates or comparable figures from previous years. Consequently, the deaths establish the number reported in the Assembly response, but they do not independently establish whether mortality has increased or declined.
The Forest Department listed several diseases and medical conditions observed among lions. These included pneumonia and haemorrhagic pneumonia, anaemia, hepato-renal dysfunction or kidney failure, multi-organ dysfunction or failure, myocardial infarction, paralysis and arthritis, gastroenteritis, roundworm infestation, encephalitis, central nervous system disorders, ascites, bronchopneumonia, acute illness and septic shock.
The range of conditions indicates that the government’s reply covers reported health problems rather than identifying a single disease outbreak. Crucially, the Assembly response does not give a separate death count for each disease. Therefore, the available figures cannot establish which illness was responsible for the highest number of deaths, whether any disease was dominant or whether the listed conditions were confirmed as the direct cause of every reported death.