Background and Location
Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Junagadh district of Gujarat, around the Girnar hill range. It lies in the larger Saurashtra landscape, which is globally important for the conservation of the Asiatic Lion.
The sanctuary was declared in 2008 to protect the biodiversity of the Girnar forests and to provide a secure habitat for lions outside the main Gir Protected Area. It covers around 178.8 sq km and is governed by the Gujarat Forest Department.
Key points:
- Located in Junagadh district, Gujarat
- Situated around the Girnar hills
- Declared as a wildlife sanctuary in 2008
- Area: around 178.8 sq km
- Important for Asiatic Lion conservation
- Part of the wider Saurashtra lion landscape
Girnar is also a major religious and cultural landscape. The hills are associated with Hindu and Jain pilgrimage sites, including temples around Bhavnath, Ambaji and Jain temple complexes. This creates a unique situation where wildlife conservation and pilgrimage activity exist in the same landscape.
Ecological Significance
Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary is important because it functions as a satellite habitat for Asiatic lions outside the traditional Gir forest. Satellite habitats reduce pressure on the main Gir Protected Area and help the lion population expand naturally into suitable landscapes.
The sanctuary supports dry deciduous forests, scrublands, rocky hills and grass patches. These habitats support both carnivores and prey species.
Important species found here include:
- Asiatic Lion
- Leopard
- Sambar
- Spotted Deer
- Nilgai
- Wild Boar
- Hyena
- Jackal
- Various resident and migratory birds
A 2025 study described Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary as an example of successful satellite population management for Asiatic lions. It noted that improved management helped Girnar move from being a weak or “sink” habitat to a stronger “source” habitat for lions.
This is important because the long-term survival of Asiatic lions cannot depend only on Gir National Park and Sanctuary. Multiple secure habitats are needed to reduce disease risk, territorial pressure and overcrowding.
Recent Developments
Girnar has recently gained attention because of the expanding Asiatic lion population in Gujarat. The 2025 lion census recorded 891 Asiatic lions in Gujarat, up from 674 in 2020, showing a rise of about 32%. More than half of these lions were reported outside traditional protected areas, showing the growing importance of satellite habitats like Girnar, Barda and coastal Saurashtra.
Girnar has also seen debate around its Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) status. Religious groups and local stakeholders have raised demands related to pilgrimage facilities, road access and other activities, while conservationists have warned that relaxing protections may disturb the fragile lion habitat. Reports noted that Girnar had around 54 lions, compared to only 4 in 1999, showing major conservation recovery.
Another recent incident involved a lioness being sighted near the crowded Bhavnath Fair during Maha Shivratri. The forest department carried out a rescue and safely guided the animal back into the sanctuary, showing the challenges of managing wildlife in a pilgrimage-heavy landscape.
Key Challenges
Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary faces a different set of challenges from many other protected areas because it combines forests, wildlife, temples, pilgrims, settlements and tourism.
Major challenges include:
- Human-lion interface: Lions move close to pilgrimage areas, villages and roads, increasing the need for careful monitoring.
- Pilgrimage pressure: Large religious gatherings can disturb wildlife and create waste, noise and crowding.
- Eco-Sensitive Zone disputes: Development demands around the sanctuary may conflict with conservation needs.
- Habitat fragmentation: Roads, construction and human activity can break wildlife movement routes.
- Disease and mortality risk: Since Asiatic lions are concentrated in one broader region of Gujarat, disease outbreaks remain a serious concern.
- Tourism management: Safari activity and visitor movement must be regulated to avoid stress on wildlife.
The main concern is to balance religious access and ecological protection. Girnar cannot be managed only as a forest area, because it is also a living cultural and pilgrimage landscape.
Way Forward
Girnar should be managed as part of the wider Asiatic lion conservation landscape of Saurashtra. Conservation planning must include Gir, Girnar, Mitiyala, Barda and coastal habitats together.
Important measures include:
- Maintaining the Eco-Sensitive Zone with science-based regulation.
- Managing pilgrimage through fixed routes, waste control and crowd regulation.
- Strengthening lion monitoring through radio-collaring, camera traps and field trackers.
- Preventing habitat fragmentation around the sanctuary.
- Creating safe movement corridors between Girnar and other lion habitats.
- Improving veterinary care and disease surveillance for lions.
- Involving religious institutions, local communities and forest officials in conservation planning.
- Regulating tourism and safari activity to avoid disturbance.
Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary shows that Asiatic lion conservation now requires a landscape approach, where forests, pilgrimage centres, local communities and satellite habitats are managed together rather than treating Gir as the only lion habitat.
