Gir Forest

Gir Forest is a nature reserve and national park in Junagadh district, Gujarat, covering 1,412 square kilometers (545 square miles) of dry deciduous woodland, open grassland, and thorny scrub. The terrain shifts between rocky hills and flat valleys, cut by seasonal rivers and artificial waterholes that draw animals year-round.

The Nawabs of Junagadh protected the area as a private hunting ground from the 19th century onward, saving the last 20 Asiatic lions from extinction. The reserve became a national park officially in 1965 and has since expanded through strict regulations and scientific monitoring.

The Maldharis, nomadic herders, have lived inside the reserve for generations, grazing their buffaloes freely across the woodland. Visitors can spot their traditional round huts along the trails and see how coexistence with predators shapes the daily routines of these communities.

Safari drives take place in the morning and afternoon in open jeeps, with tours limited to designated zones. The roads are unpaved and can become difficult to navigate during the monsoon, so the park sometimes closes from June to September.

The Asiatic lions here are the only free-roaming population of their subspecies left in the world, with numbers rising from 20 to over 670 animals. Males often form groups of two or three, a behavior rarely seen among their African relatives.