Bring Asiatic lions to Kuno: Locals renew demand during President's visit

Published 22 June 2026 · politics

The long-pending demand to relocate Asiatic lions to Kuno Park resurfaced on Sunday as President Droupadi Murmu visited the wildlife reserve in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur

The long-pending demand to relocate Asiatic lions to Kuno Park resurfaced on Sunday as President Droupadi Murmu visited the wildlife reserve in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district. Members of the Kuno Sangharsh Samiti staged a protest and submitted a memorandum addressed to the President, urging the Centre to fulfill Kuno's original purpose by bringing Asiatic lions from Gujarat's Gir forest. Under the banner of the Kuno Sangharsh Samiti, residents gathered at Gandhi Park in Sheopur and held a sit-in protest. Led by the committee's convenor and former Congress district president Atul Chauhan, demonstrators carried placards, raised slogans and handed over a memorandum to the district administration for onward submission to the President.

Read Full Story The committee argued that Kuno was identified by the Wildlife Institute of India in 1993-94 as the most suitable and secure habitat for establishing a second home for Asiatic lions. To facilitate the project, 25 villages were relocated from the Kuno landscape, affecting around 4,545 families and creating a largely human-free habitat for the species. In its memorandum, the committee said the growing lion population in Gir and recurring deaths due to disease, accidents and other factors underscore the need for a second secure habitat for the endangered species. It also cited the Supreme Court's 2013 ruling, which described Asiatic lions as a national heritage and directed their translocation to Kuno.

The protesters maintained that the ongoing cheetah project and the proposed lion relocation are not mutually exclusive. According to the committee, both species can coexist within the larger landscape under scientific wildlife management, further enhancing Kuno's international conservation profile. "Kuno was developed as a second home for Asiatic lions, and thousands of families sacrificed their land and livelihoods for that objective. We appeal to the President to urge the Centre to take the necessary steps to settle lions in Kuno," Chauhan said. The committee also highlighted the potential economic benefits of lion relocation, saying it would boost tourism in Sheopur and create employment opportunities for local youth.

The renewed demand during the President's visit has once again brought the debate over Asiatic lion translocation to the forefront. The focus is now on whether the Centre and wildlife authorities will revisit the long-delayed proposal and take steps toward establishing a second habitat for the species in Kuno Park. Ends with inputs from Khemraj Dubey