Gir National Park sees a tourist growth of 41%

AHMEDABAD: Gir National Park, the only home to Asiatic lions, which closed for tourist from Saturday saw a overall tourist growth of 41 per cent.
Forest Officials said that the sanctuary will remain close from June 16 to October 15, Officials said that data obtained revealed that the number of foot fall in Gir and Devaliya safari has crossed the 4.25 lakh mark.This according to Deputy conservator of forest Sandeep Kumar, the number of tourists between June 15, 2011 and June 15, 2012 was about 1.20 lakh more tourists more as compared to last year. This was about 41 per cent more as compared to previous years.
The sanctuary will remain closed for tourists in monsoons on ac-count of the breeding season of the wild cats, forest officials said. Dr Sandeep Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forest Wildlife division at Sasan said that this period is the best mating season for leopards and peacocks and the period is crucial for conservation of the endangered animals, he said.
Since the department supervises the breeding closely, they wanted to prevent any disturbance, which could be caused by tourists. Senior officials said that the another reason for closing the entry of tourist was that the forest staff has to monitor the movement of wild animals during rains and in case of heavy rains in the area, they have to chalk out a rescue plan and shift them to safer places, he said.
The road also are damaged due to heavy rains and hence movement of the vehicles becomes difficult and hence this was one of the main reason for closing the park to tourists.