Overview
Gir National Park, in northwestern Gujarat in India, is the home to a wide array of wildlife and the only place where you can find lions roaming free, apart from in Africa. This open zoo has been a major place for tourist attraction for a long time. However, due to the consistent poaching efforts of the people of Junagarh, the various wildlife species had been threatened, and simultaneously Asiatic lions were undergoing a steady decrease in other parts of Asia. Later, owing to the strict interference of the Department of Forest Officials, the population of lions rose from 20 in 1013 to 523 in 2015. The entire Sasan Gir region was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the Government of India on 18th September 1965.
The renowned wildlife zoo, Gir National Park, is situated about 65 kilometers southeast of the Junagarh district in Gujarat. The park covers a total area of 1412 square kilometer of which 258 kilometer forms the core. It has a forest infrastructure made of dry and deciduous trees, among which the animals reside in all their glory.
