A stunning and rare image of an Asiatic lion standing on the shores of the Arabian Sea in Gujarat’s Junagadh has left the internet in awe. In the undated picture that has gone viral, the lion can be seen casually standing on the banks of the Arabian Sea, as if it were enjoying the waves of the sea.
Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh shared the picture on Twitter and wrote, ”A lion was spotted in the Darya Kantha area during the Bhadrawa Poonam patrol.”
Later, Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan also shared the mesmerizing picture and wrote, ”When #Narnia looks real. A lion king captured enjoying tides of the Arabian Sea on Gujarat coast. Courtesy: CCF, Junagadh.”
In another post, he also shared a research paper on Asiatic Lions and wrote, ”Interested people can read this paper also on Asiatic Lions. ‘Living on the sea-coast: ranging and habitat distribution of Asiatic lions’ by Mohan Ram and others. Published in nature.” The study notes that Asiatic lions, which are concentrated in Gir National Park are now increasingly seen around coastal regions of Gujarat.
”Across their range, lions are known to occupy a wide range of habitat types. The most significant of the satellite habitats occupied by dispersed lions are coastal habitats. The first record of lions in the coastal habitats of Sutrapada was in the mid-1990s, and since then, there has been a continuous presence of lions in the coastal areas that extend across four districts,” the study notes.