A lioness was found dead on the outskirts of a village in Gujarat's Amreli district, amid concerns being raised by local leaders over the death of felines in the region as they urged the forest department to probe if any serious virus outbreak was causing the fatalities.

The adult lioness was found dead in a farm land on the outskirts of Mandardi village on Saturday, with the death caused due to natural causes, sources in the forest department said.

The carcass was taken to the Babarkot animal centre for postmortem, which confirmed that the animal died due to natural causes, they said.

Local leaders urged the forest department to conduct a thorough probe to find out if any serious virus outbreak like canine distemper virus (CDV) was causing the deaths.

CDV has caused several lion deaths in the past, and people are concerned that the recent deaths might have been caused by the same, something that the forest department has ruled out.

MLA J V Kakadiya, who represents the Dhari assembly constituency, raised the issue in a letter written to Forest Minister Mulu Bera.

The recent death of lions in the region of the forest divisions of Shetrunji and Gir East is a cause of concern. The death of two lion cubs a few days ago might have been caused by some virus, he said.

"The work of the forest department does not appear satisfactory. Asiatic lions are found only in our Gir area, and their conservation and safety is not a concern for forest department but also locals," he said in his letter.

Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Shetrunji wildlife division, Dhananjay Sahu, said that two lion cubs aged around four months were rescued from Jafrabad range after they were found weak.

They died during treatment, with the primary reasons being anaemia or pneumonia.

"This is a natural phenomenon that some lion cubs are born weak. When two such weak cubs came to the notice of forest officials during scanning, they were rescued and taken to Jafrabad centre for treatment," he said a few days back.

Thereafter, as a precautionary measure, two lionesses and six cubs were rescued in the division or routine checkup.

So far, no viral infection was found in any of the lions and whatever was being done by the forest department was routine activity.

Assistant Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Jaipal Singh visited the area, and said that all required steps will be taken for the safety of lions.

"I saw the rescued lions, and they are all healthy and there is no need for concern. I have discussed with the staff what all steps we need to take for the safety of lions, and all required steps will be taken in this regard," he said.

Singh said the lioness found dead on Saturday had died due to natural causes.

"Most recent deaths in different regions have been due to natural causes. In a group of lions, we found symptoms of pneumonia, and a cub was found to have very low haemoglobin. It was treated with blood transfusion, and the entire group was provided with treatment, and no death occurred in them. The cub is also healthy," he said.

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