Tell Railroad Throughout India to Impose More Stringent Rules to Stop Killing Lions

  • by: SUE LEE
  • recipient: Rajkot, India and Amreli District Wildlife Experts and Forest Department

Please sign and share this petition in an effort to get the railroads throughout Pipavav port near Gerai Umechia village in the Rajula range of Amreli district in India in an effort to protect wildlife like this young lion cub, elephants and other animals they killed. These railroads need to impose more stringent standard operating procedures for trains like speed limits and special course for drivers who should be taught about the sudden movement of lions, their behavior etc. Too many animals have been killed by trains in recent years.

A young lion cub, about six to seven months of age was found dead on the tracks of the train leading to the Pipavav port near Gerai Umechia village in the Rajula range of Amreli district, probably hit early in the morning. Unfortunately, this is the sixth lion cub casualty in the state due road and rail accidents. These incidents have environmentalists concerned, stating “On one hand, we are engaged in a legal battle to prevent translocation of lions to Madhya Pradesh on the ground that they will not be safe there. On the other hand, we are recording regular deaths of lions in Gujarat. How will we sustain our argument in the face of such happenings. We have also increased the tracker strength in these areas and the trackers have acted to avoid several such incidents. We have particularly identified certain pockets the 35-40 km stretch of line treating them as sensitive areas. These are areas where lion movements are generally seen so as to help avoid such incidents.”

In the face of these casualties, the forest department had also trained train drivers, helping them understand lion behavior, movement and how to spot them from a distance. However, the railway officials of Bhavnagar division have expressed their inability to reduce speed of the trains. Wildlife experts said that besides long-term measures like building smart green infrastructure train drivers need to be trained in lion behavior, and say that "such accidents are completely avoidable. Railways should impose stringent standard operating procedures for trains like speed limits and special course for drivers who should be taught about the sudden movement of lions, their behavior etc. As a long-term solution, the government needs to adopt smart green infrastructure like in many foreign countries where railways and roads don't overlap with the territories of animals."

Please sign and share this petition in an effort to get the railroads throughout Pipavav port near Gerai Umechia village in the Rajula range of Amreli district in India in an effort to protect wildlife like this young lion cub, elephants and other animals they killed.

 

Rajkot, India and Amreli District Wildlife Experts and Forest Department - Please work more diligently with the railways and demand that impose more stringent standard operating procedures for trains like speed limits and special course for drivers who should be taught about the sudden movement of lions, their behavior etc. Someone needs to make changes for long-term safety measures by reducing their speed on the railways, building smart green infrastructure and train drivers in lion behavior. Demand enforcement of these more stringent standard operating procedures for trains and protect the wildlife, young and old.

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