As per the last census in 2015, there were around 523 lions in the state, mainly in the forest areas of Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.

A 55-year-old man was mauled to death by a lion at a forest in Gujarat’s Amreli district on Monday morning, an official said.

The feline, in the age group of 3 to 5 years, attacked Kadubhai Bhilad when he went to defecate near his house in Jira village under Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest division, he said.

“The man died after he was attacked by a male lion around 6 a.m.,” Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Junagadh, Dushyant Vasavada said.

The body was sent to Dhari civil hospital for postmortem, he said.

The Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest in October last year witnessed a massive outbreak of canine distemper virus that killed several lions in the region.

Gir forest is the only abode of Asiatic lions.

As per the last census in 2015, there were around 523 lions in the state, mainly in the forest areas of Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.