“I fed the lion a feast worth ₹5 lakhs,” boasts the Maldhari patriarch, seated straight and proud on the charpai of his hamlet outside Sasan Gir wildlife sanctuary, telling the tale of how a lion hunted his beloved prize cow.
He and his family of five are among the few tribal folk, called Maldharis, to have taken up the Gujarat Government’s offer of rehabilitation outside the forest. Which means that they live in a sprawling hamlet (called a ness) of their own and rear ducks and hens along with his beloved native Gir cows, while most of his kin continue to graze their cows in the depths of the lion-habitated forest, shooing away entire prides with their sticks.
The family’s affection for its cattle is clear, and yet, they hold no grudges against Gir’s lions for their kills. “Ït was her fate to sustain the lions and not us,” he says, recalling with a chortle the utter shock of local naturalists who suddenly happened upon the large cow, being feasted upon by a massive lion, right on the way of their vehicle.
