Six-year-old lion drowns in Arabian Sea near Gujarat port
The animal reportedly entered the sea to escape a territorial clash with two other big cats on Monday.
A six-year-old lion drowned in the Arabian Sea near Pipavav Port in Gujarat's Amreli district on Monday, according to reports by Rediff and Hindustan Times. The animal reportedly entered the water to escape a territorial dispute with two other big cats.
The carcass of the lion was discovered at approximately 1.30 pm on Tuesday near the port's jetty, about 3 km from the Patva village seashore. Rajula range Range Forest Officer (RFO) D K Makwana said the lion may have jumped into the sea to find a safer location following an encounter with another lion.
Local residents observed the animal entering the water on Monday, and forest personnel later verified its footprints at the site. While lions are capable of swimming across water bodies, Makwana noted that this lion might have exhausted itself while swimming.
Personnel conducting routine surveillance at the jetty initially mistook the floating carcass for a cow or buffalo. Upon closer inspection, they identified it as a wild animal and alerted the forest department.
A post-mortem examination confirmed that the lion died due to drowning, with no other cause of death found. The Patva-Chanch Bandar-Pipavav stretch is part of a coastal lion corridor that extends from Diu towards Mahuva in Bhavnagar district.