{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Incredible India Travel | Social Impact & Culture Tours","title":"Gir Forest Lions: The Last 700 Asiatic Lions on Earth All Live in This One Forest in Gujarat","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":984,"description":"There is only one place on earth outside Africa where you can see lions in the wild.Not Kenya. Not Tanzania. Not Botswana or Zimbabwe or any of the African landscapes the world associates with the word lion.One forest. In Gujarat, India.The Sasan Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the Saurashtra peninsula is the last home on earth of the Asiatic lion. Approximately 700 individuals. One species. One forest. And a conservation story so extraordinary that it has no parallel in the history of Indian wildlife.At the beginning of the 20th century the Asiatic lion was functionally extinct across virtually its entire former range, eliminated by hunting across Persia, Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Iraq and across most of India. The last surviving population, fewer than 20 individuals, was clinging to existence in the forests of the Nawab of Junagadh in Saurashtra, Gujarat. The Nawab's decision to protect his lions rather than permit their hunting was the single act that prevented the complete extinction of the Asiatic lion from the earth.Today there are approximately 700.In this episode we tell the complete story of the Gir forest Asiatic lion tour, from the extraordinary physical and behavioural differences that distinguish the Asiatic lion from its African cousin to the remarkable social structure that makes every Gir lion sighting a completely different experience from any African safari. We explore the conservation story that brought this population back from the brink of extinction. We meet the Maldhari tribal communities who have lived inside the sanctuary for generations, sharing their landscape with the lions in a relationship of coexistence that has no parallel anywhere in the world. We explore the extraordinary biodiversity of the Gir forest beyond the lions, from the leopards and Indian wild dogs to the marsh crocodiles, the four-horned antelope and over 300 species of birds. And we give you everything you need to plan your Gir forest Asiatic lion tour...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/eWrZ3doNBWF40S0S56sC17IDwfhLRtHiDkqKOrNCvtA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85Yjg5/Y2Q3ODM2NzZkOTcz/NGJiMWMwMDEzMTFl/YjI3NC5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}