UPSC environment mindmaps: post #13198 — TG.ME

🔆 Need for a Second Home for Asiatic Lions 📍 Why in News? ✅ Conservation experts have renewed the demand for establishing a second free-ranging population of Asiatic lions to reduce extinction risk from disease and natural disasters. 📍 Current Status ✅ Asiatic lion population has increased to around 891 ✅ Nearly the entire wild population is confined to the Gir Landscape, Gujarat ✅ A single geographically concentrated population remains highly vulnerable 📍 Why a Second Population is Needed ✅ Reduces risk from epidemics, forest fires and natural disasters ✅ Enhances genetic diversity and long-term species survival ✅ Prevents extinction from a single catastrophic event ✅ Follows the metapopulation approach by distributing populations across multiple habitats 📍 Major Concerns ✅ 2018 Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) outbreak killed several lions in Gir ✅ Dense, isolated populations are more susceptible to disease outbreaks ✅ Droughts, wildfires and prey decline can disproportionately impact a single population 📍 Supreme Court Judgment (2013) ✅ Directed translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir National Park (Gujarat) to Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) ✅ Held that conservation decisions must be based on ecological principles, not regional interests ✅ Declared Asiatic lions are a national heritage, not the property of any one State 📍 Present Status ✅ Despite habitat restoration, no lions have been relocated to Kuno ✅ Project Lion (2020) seeks to expand lion conservation ✅ Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (Gujarat) has been proposed as an alternative site, though experts favour a geographically distant second population 📍 Way Forward ✅ Establish a second free-ranging population outside Gir ✅ Adopt a landscape-level conservation strategy ✅ Strengthen disease surveillance and habitat connectivity ✅ Balance ecological priorities with inter-state cooperation 📍 Prelims Nuggets ✅ Only wild population of Asiatic lions is found in Gir Landscape, Gujarat ✅ Kuno National Park is located in Madhya Pradesh ✅ Project Lion was launched in 2020 for Asiatic lion conservation ✅ Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) is a major disease threat to wild carnivores ✅ Mains Practice Discuss the ecological and governance challenges in establishing a second free-ranging population of Asiatic lions in India. (GS III) #GS3 #Environment #GS3 #prelims  #environment Join https://t.me/PIB_UPSC https://t.me/Upsc_4_environment