Car driver in Amreli chases, harasses a lion

Rajkot: Yet another video of Asiatic lions being harassed by humans went viral on Tuesday, forcing the forest department to launch an investigation.
In the video, a man is chasing a lion in a revenue (non-protected) area. Sources said the video is suspected to have been shot in Fachariya village of Amreli’s Jafrabad taluka.
Amreli district alone is home to nearly 100 lions and most of them are seen sauntering in villages and on the roads.
Talking to TOI, Jayen Patel, deputy conservator of forest, Shetrunji division, said “We have launched a probe and an FIR will be lodged under the Wildlife Protection Act after collecting primary evidence.”
The video is shot from inside the car during the night’s darkness. The driver is chasing a lion which is seen running to save itself. The lion first tries to find a safe corner but wanders away into a street. The car follows the wild cat and focuses the headlight on it.
According to lion conservation activists, the forest department had cracked a whip on the illegal lion shows two years ago, but after the lockdown, the activity started flourishing in some parts of Amreli and Bhavnagar district. According to the latest census, there are 674 lions in Saurashtra out of which 240 are moving in revenue areas of Bhavnagar and Amreli.