Tuesday, September 27 2005 14:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: An Asiatic lion has been found dead just outside the Gir sanctuary premises in Junagadh district with some of its claws missing, forest department officials said here today (Sept 27, 2007).

With this the number of deaths of the endangered species in the past two months rose to seven.

"Though the real cause of the death of the lion yesterday (Sept 26, 2005) is yet to be ascertained as it was found in a decomposed condition. We are investigating the reasons of the lion's death, including if it was poisoning or it died of natural causes," conservator of forest, Gir, Bharat Pathak told sources.

The official said that 12 of the 18 claws of the beast was also found along with the carcass in Amaliyar area which is a grassland just outside the sanctuary premises.

Forest officials have also denied that poachers could be behind the sudden spate of deaths of the lions and said that poachers would not leave behind some claws and take away a few.

Forest officials had some weeks ago, however, arrested three locals and recovered some lion claws from their possession after the accused persons confessed that they had poisoned a lion.

Officials, however, said that this is a stray case and the accused are behind bars already.

Forest officials also denied that the sudden rise in deaths of lions was due to a conflict with some of the pastoral community that lived within the sanctuary and in the surrounding grasslands.

"There can be a stray instance or two but the pastoral community have been living for years in harmony with the beasts and there is no need for them to be against each other at this stage," the official said.

Six Asiatic lions died in the past two months due to both natural causes and the rains in July.

The census conducted by the Gujarat Government in May this year indicated that population of the Asiatic lion, found only in the Gir sanctuary, was healthy with a head count of 359.