Ahmedabad, March 6: Carcasses of two Asiatic lionesses and a cub found within 500 metres of a Gir sanctuary checkpost have triggered a security alert in the park.

This is the first time lions have been found killed inside the protected area. The mutilated pelts of the wild cats were found with the claws, skull and bones missing.

Gir is the only natural habitat of the highly endangered Asiatic lion.

Gujarat forest officials, who had been denying that inter-state poachers were at work, confirmed yesterday that the death of the wild cats was due to poaching.

A wildlife activist representing the Gir Nature Youth Club, Amit Jethava, said it was shocking that the carcasses were found within a radius of 500 m of the Bavaria range checkpost, which is barely 200 m from the national highway.

State forest minister Mangu Patel has announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information on the “professional hunters”. Principal forest conservator and chief wildlife warden Pradeep Khanna confirmed that it was a case of poaching.

The number of Asiatic lions had risen to 359 in 2005 from 327 four years ago, a government census showed.

The lions were reported to have been poisoned or shot on March 1. However, Khanna claimed they were killed on March 3.