Gir Lions Country’s Property, Says SC

“No state can claim the right over an animal merely because the animal is housed in a particular state. It does not become the property of that state, it belongs to the country," a Forest Bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad shot back at the state government.

Gujarat is making a spirited case of its distinction as the only state in the country to have Asiatic lions, and is objecting to a plan to re-locate some of the Asiatic lion population to Madhya Pradesh.

The opposition from the state comes despite the National Board for Wildlife also voting against the Gujarat government's reluctance to shift the lions. Read the full report here.

Source: Krishnadas Rajagopal, Indian Express, New Delhi.