Watch: CCTV shows lions roaming freely through a village in Amreli district

A photo of Gir Wildlife Sanctuary. (Source: Express photo by Javed Raza/File)

In the cloak of darkness, a pride of lions casually entered a village in the Amreli district of Gujarat on August 13 and took a stroll briefly before disappearing. CCTV footage procured by news agency ANI shows a pride of lions walking through the neighbourhood on Tuesday night while the village was asleep. There were no reports of any damage.

This is not the first time that wild animals have strayed into residential areas located close to the Gir wildlife sanctuary. The Gir region is inhabited by a large number of lions who often stroll into the areas of human habitation and activity. In April this year, a lion cub had died after it entered Agariya village of Rajula taluka in Amreli district and fell into an open agricultural well. In another incident in March this year, an Asiatic lion succumbed to his injuries after being hit by a train engine near Badha village in the district. In December last year as well, a lioness had ventured into Virpur village and was spotted by villagers roaming in search of food.

#WATCH: A pride of lions entered the residential area of a village in Gujarat’s Amreli (Source CCTV, 15.08.17) pic.twitter.com/DTBwa69PR3

— ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2017

The lion population in the Amreli district has grown in the past few years with sightings of lion in five of its 11 talukas. The reason behind this increase in their population is believed to be the thickets that cover Amreli’s hillocks and the plains of the rivers Shetrunji and Dhatarwadi, which offer a good habitat. Apart from the availability of water in the summer, the area also provides prey for the lions as the nilgais (blue bulls) and spotted deer are often drawn to the rivers. Read | With entire lion pride in Gir caged for first time, reports of rumblings in the jungle