Mumbai: The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has welcomed the Supreme Court’s order permitting the relocation of some of Gujarat’s endangered Asiatic Lions from Gir National Park to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

Calling it as a good and essential step for the long-term survival of the species, the society termed the move as “Human Assisted Dispersal” which, it said, should be considered for many other threatened species.

The apex court on Monday directed the concerned agencies to move some of endangered lions over the next six months since a second home would prevent their extinction in the event an an epidemic or fire breaks out in one location.

The court’s order was in the wake of public interest litigation filed by an environmental group — the Centre for Environment — for the relocation of the Gir lions.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed Asiatic lions as endangered and their last refuge has been Gir forest, where there are around 400 lions.

Dr Asad Rahmani, director of the BNHS, said: “It is a very good development and we welcome it. Relocating some lions is a wonderful idea for the long-term survival of the species and should have been done much earlier.”

He added that the wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh where the lions are headed includes territory where Asiatic lions once roamed in their numbers.

“Lions are adaptable animals and can withstand high temperatures that are observed in central India.”

He also said that the sporadic presence of tigers in Kuno was in no way detrimental to the reintroduction of lions.

The society has maintained that whenever the natural dispersal of wild species is not possible — due to lack of habitat corridors because of human activities and settlements — it is essential to have Human Assisted Dispersal.

“Although there has been good growth in the numbers of Asiatic lions in Gujarat following conservation measures, there are no forest corridors available at present for the animals to disperse to other areas of their former range in other states,” Rahmani said.