The politics of rewilding/ reintroductions: the lion in

Maan Barua1 & Tarsh Thekaekara2

1. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, UK 2. The Shola Trust, Tamil Nadu, India Reintroduction / rewilding

Reliance on documented historical distribuon

796-802 Single Reintroducon , High species 18

Ecosystem Restoraon Ecology,

Low

Community construcon SEDDON, P. J. 2010.

Moving megafauna a major challenge | Never occurs in a social vacuum | How might the social sciences help understand such processes? 1 Who extirpated species and who wants to bring them back? Wolf eradication in the USA Thylacine extinction in Gendered | Racial Australia The

Hunting practices of the colonial and Indian princely elite Princely ecologies

Lion Reintroductions

Chandraprabha, Uar Pradesh Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh Three lions shied in 1957; number grew African lions introduced in to 11 in 1969 Populaon died out 1904; high levels of human-lion ‘inexplicably’ conflict; animals shot

Kuno, Madhya Pradesh Mooted in early 1990s; 2004 refuses to part with lions

Gir Conservation and early reintroductions

Princely ecologies: Nawab of Junagarh Gir Forest in western India Isolated, single population: all eggs in one basket 2 Megafauna are charismatic – they generate value in the commodity economy “World’s envy, Gujarat’s pride” Narendra Modi: the lion of Gujarat Gujarat gets 1,60,000 foreign tourists per annum| against Madhya Pradesh displaying lions on website Politicizing reintroductions

“Adventure has been an essential part of the A&K experience ever since Geoffrey Kent started offering his Kenyan safaris back in 1962. But adventure ‘Abercrombie & Kent style’ doesn’t mean you have to live without your creature comforts – like the inest cuisine, indulgently comfortable beds and that essential chilled glass of champagne to accompany the sunset” (Abercrombie and Kent, advertising for adventure safaris in 2007) 3 In practice, it is dificult to separate conservation from politics

Politicizing the lion

Tiger replaces lion as the national animal in the 1970s

BJP: ‘Gujarat saved the national emblem’ Congress: ‘Maldharis, not Modi, saved the lion’

Modi: ‘Why does the tiger get 5 million US$ per annum and the lion nothing? Is the tiger secular, and the lion communal?’

Politicizing the lion

Gujarat: 50 people will self-immolate if lions sent outside state Madhya Pradesh: massive protests for not getting lions

Conservation organization iles public interest litigation 4 ‘We don’t know’ (what ends science can be put to) The uses and abuses of science

“Lions are happy here, why relocate them?”

“Lion populations increasing - thus not critically endangered”

“Lion genetic diversity is improving”

Some more rewilding ...

Gujarat says Madhya Pradesh should get cheetahs Project stalled by Supreme Court of India Political metapopulation ecology

Gujarat: invests funds in ‘Greater Gir’ complex of sites Surrounding satellite areas (68 lions) Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS), coastal areas, hill ranges extending from Mitiyala, Savarkundla-- Shihor in , Amreli and Bhavnagar districts

“If lions want to go to Kuno, then they can go on their own”

5 Who has the authority to speak and to speculate? Appropriating local voices

‘Attitudes of the local people are highly conservation oriented; they feel pride in the fact that lions have inhabited their land’

‘Such sentiment will disappear if lions are moved out of Gujarat’

‘People in Maharashtra do not know how to live with lions’ ... Fear of virus ‘a hoax’

Speculating the future: the fear of an epidemic Canine Distemper Virus and Gujarati science 6 What are the cons? Conlict ...

Cattle constitute up to 30% of Gir c 400 people killed every year lion diets Crop loss up to 70% of local output Maldharis offset c 58% of their loss in some regions through free grazing rights 10-15,000 houses damaged Bannerjee et al 2013 PLOS One Jadhav & Barua 2012 Lion relocation waiting to happen, but …

“Our forefathers stayed with tigers and other wildlife in the Kuno sanctuary. Now, for a few lions, we are being driven out of our homes ..."

(resident of village near Kuno)