Eight Asiatic Lion Cubs Die in Gir Landscape; Gujarat Steps Up Babesiosis Containment

Eight Asiatic lion cubs have died in the Gir landscape in Gujarat over the past week, prompting the state government to step up surveillance, containment and large-scale deticking operations within a 10-kilometre radius of the affected area. Forest Minister Arjun Modhwadia said the situation is being monitored by the Chief Minister's Office and the Prime Minister's Office and that no new cases were reported in the two days before 29 May 2026.

Preliminary assessment links the cub deaths to babesiosis, a tick-borne parasitic disease that affects red blood cells. Samples have been sent to the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre for confirmation, with results expected in three to four days. Experts from Junagadh Veterinary College have been deputed to support the investigation. Lions within the 10-kilometre radius have been isolated, and deticking operations are being carried out across Gir and the surrounding region.

Earlier, on 26 May 2026, the minister said that two of the cubs were suspected to have died from Babesia infection while the rest succumbed to infighting or unrelated causes. The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) is found only in Gujarat. The 2025 census put the population at 891, up from 674 in 2020, with the species expanding into Amreli, Gir Somnath and Bhavnagar districts.

The episode revives memories of the 2018 outbreak in which 24 lions died in less than a month due to Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) and Babesia infection. After that outbreak the state ramped up disease surveillance, vaccination of cattle in the buffer zone and the creation of dedicated lion-care hospitals. The current response will test whether the post-2018 systems can keep a localised tick-borne event from snowballing into another mass-mortality crisis for India's only Asiatic lion population.