ARAMNESS GIR

This new luxury safari lodge is proud of its Gujarati milieu, says Salil Deshpande

- Salil Deshpande

Shortly after the country was born, conservationists managed to get the Asiatic lion anointed as the national animal of India. For a creature ruthlessly hunted for over a hundred years, this was a respite. But the reign was short lived. In 1972, the Royal Bengal tiger replaced the lion as the state animal. The tiger, they said, had a larger national footprint than the lion, whose presence was now confined to parts of Gujarat. It’s a somewhat similar story today—even as the tiger parks of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh attract wildlife lovers from across the world, the safaris of Gir are less of a badge. This despite Gir’s rich biodiversity, success in conservation, and bragging rights as the last home of the Asiatic lion.