Passenger train hits lioness in Gujarat’s Amreli

A female Asiatic lion suffered serious injuries after being hit by a passenger train near Rajula town in Shetrunji wildlife division in Gujarat’s Amreli district on Sunday evening.

Forest officers said the incident occurred at around 7:30 pm when the Surat-bound Mahuva-Surat express train hit a lioness between Ringaliyana Mota and Doliya villages, around 17 km east of Rajula town.

This is the third incident of a train hitting lions in the Amreli district this month and the seventh in six months, killing five lions.

On January 12, a lion was killed after being hit by a goods train at Amrutvel village, some 10 km from Amreli’s Savarkundla town on Pipavav-Surendranagar railway line in Gir (East) wildlife division.

On January 3, a lioness was killed after being hit by a goods train at Vijapadi village on the same railway line in Gir (East) division.

Two sub-adult lionesses were killed after being hit by a train at Uchaiya village in Rajula near Pipavav port on July 21 last year.

A lion cub was killed in a similar incident in Borala village near Savarkundla on July 31. A sub-adult lion was killed again after being hit by a train at Khadkala village near Rajula on September 23.