To be modelled on and Project Elephant, Project Lion was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2020.
The funding proposal for the project involves Rs 712 crore for habitat and Population management and Rs 375 crore for communities as stakeholders under the Sinh Mitra Yojana. Other aspects are Rs 203 crore for lion Health management, Rs 120 crore for human-wildlife Conflict Management, Rs 152 crore for surveillance and monitoring, and Rs 74 crore for research and Learning. The details were outlined by sources with knowledge of the project.
Under Project Lion, the State Government aims to establish a National Wildlife Disease Diagnostic Centre for a projected Investment of Rs 71 crore. A lion cell at the Union ministry of Environment, forest and Climate-change”>Climate Change is also envisioned for an investment of Rs 31.65 crore under the proposed plan. CM Rupani in his address said that the state government has taken up the tasks of maintaining the health of the lions and their conservation by developing a new concept of an advanced lion hospital. Other features, he said, are lion ambulance, rescue and rapid action team, trackers, and Vanyaprani Mitras in Sasan Gir with public participation.
For breeding of lions, gene pools have been started at three places: Rampara in Saurashtra, and Sakkarbaug and Satveerada in Junagadh.
The Gujarat forest department had announced in June last year that the Asiatic lion population has increased by 29% over the past five years from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020. The distribution range of lions in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, where Gir is situated, has increased by 36% from 22,000 sq km in 2015 to 30,000 sq km.