We came to Gir National Park especially to see the Asiatic lions. This is the only place in the world where you can see them. We arrived at the gate just after 6am and our driver organised all our paperwork and handed us over to our guide and driver. We know how differently National Parks and game drives work in India compared to Southern Africa so we had requested a private guide and vehicle. Each vehicle is allocated time on a numbered route to avoid congestion. There are park rangers on motorbikes to track the lions. None of the vehicles have radios so word of lion sightings are passed from driver to driver and mostly by loud shouting.
On our morning drive we saw 2 lionesses, some deer, monkeys and lots of birds. We couldn't believe that as such seasoned travellers neither of us had remembered to pack binoculars! Naked-eye birding!
On the afternoon drive we saw 2 male lions and 2 more lionesses. There is a lot of "shared" land with local communities living within the park boundaries and we watched one of the lionesses "stalking" a small herd of cattle. Farmers are paid if a lion takes out any livestock, so they don't mind losing a scrawny cow and it's an easy meal for the lions.
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