Gir Lion Safari
Gir National Park, Gujarat
The only place in the world with wild Asiatic lions. The park was declared in 1965 out of the Nawab of Junagadh's private shooting grounds — 1,410 square kilometres in all, of which 259 are fully protected national park and the rest sanctuary, in the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forest. The 2015 census counted 523 lions, up from 411 in 2010 and 359 in 2005, and the range now spreads well beyond the park into Amreli and Bhavnagar. Safaris run in fixed zones on permits released in limited numbers and booked ahead; the park closes through the monsoon.
