Research overview: ecology of the Asiatic lion in the Gir forest

The last wild Asiatic lions persist in and around the Gir forest of Gujarat, India, where their ecology differs notably from African populations. This overview reviews how Gir lions live in smaller groups, with males and females associating less continuously than in African prides, and how they rely heavily on chital, sambar, and livestock in a human-dominated landscape. It covers the recovery of the population from near extinction, dispersal into agricultural and coastal areas, conflict and coexistence with people, and concerns about disease risk in a single concentrated population. The synthesis highlights how a confined habitat and dense human presence shape social structure, diet, and ranging. It underscores why the Gir lions are both a conservation success story and a case study in big cat adaptability under intense human pressure.