Ahmedabad, Jun 8 (PTI) An estimation of the number of lions in Gujarat's Gir Wildlife Sanctuary has been done for internal use of data by the forest department as the five-year census scheduled in May was postponed due to the coronavirus- enforced lockdown, an official said.

The data is unlikely to be shared in public domain.

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The estimation exercise was held on the full moon intervening night of June 5-6, a forest official said.

The last census held in 2015 reported 523 lions in the Gir sanctuary area, which is the only abode of Asiatic lions.

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"This estimation is neither a formal nor informal count of lions. We ask our staff to keep a watch and note down the number of lions in their beat. This is routine work. This is like a standard operating procedure which we follow every full moon night," Gujarat Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Shyamal Tikadar told PTI.

He refused to share findings of the exercise, which sources said involved 300-odd beat guards as well as sarpanchs of villages surrounding the Gir sanctuary.

D T Vasavada, chief conservator of forest, Junagadh Range, of which Gir forest is a part, said the estimation exercise was completed by Saturday.

He, however, said the release of its findings was a policy decision to be taken by the state government.

Vasavada also said that a full-fledged lion census could not be done this year due to the lockdown.

"The lion census, done once every five years, is carried out in an extensive manner, with the participation of members of the National Board of Wildlife, large number of central and state government employees, wildlife lovers and NGOs. But, due to the lockdown we cannot call them and a full-fledged census cannot be carried out now," he said.

Summer is the ideal time for lion census as after that, the monsoon season is the mating time of felines for which the sanctuary is closed for four months. Winter season is also not a good time for census, another official said.

Asked when the census will be conducted, Vasavada said it cannot be held this year and has been postponed.

"Now, it is up to the government to fix the next date for census, he said.

Wildlife lovers and activists have been waiting for the census as some two dozen lions died in the last three months due to babesiosis, a malaria-like disease caused by the parasite babesia.

Earlier, nearly 40 lions died in Gir in October- November 2018 after getting infected by the canine distemper virus, officials said.

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