The officers said that the rigorous counting drive helps keep track of the animals' well-being and alerts the department to any casualty. Despite the name of the drive, the population is observed both at night and in daytime. In the Poonam of May, the exercise is carried out twice, back-to back. Officers in the forest department said that lions are counted every month in 'Poonam Avlokan', the population study on the night of the full moon. The 2022 count which is yet to be formally declared reveals that the lion population has increased largely in the Greater Gir area.

The official 2022 count is pegged to be 760 even as foresters say that the actual figure could be much higher with the lions regally annexing more territory by the year. AHMEDABAD: The number of Asiatic lions in Gujarat appears to have taken a leonine leap, with the estimated 'unofficial' population of the jungle royals pegged to have reached about 1,200 in their only abode on earth, top sources aware of developments said.

Lion in hindi word