Photo by Francesco on Unsplash (illustrative)
On 21 May 2025, the government of Gujarat in western India announced that its 16th lion census had counted 891 Asiatic lions, up from 674 in 2020. The count, carried out from 10 to 13 May 2025, covers the last wild population of this lion subspecies on Earth.
Key facts
The 2025 census found 891 lions: 196 adult males, 330 adult females, 140 sub-adults and 225 cubs.
That is a rise of about 32% since 2020 and roughly 172% since 2001, when 327 lions were counted.
Surveyors covered about 35,000 square kilometers across 11 districts of the Saurashtra region.
For the first time since 1879, lions were recorded in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, where 17 were counted.
Why it matters
The population has grown at every five-yearly count this century, from 327 in 2001 to 891 in 2025. Rising state investment in protection and veterinary care has let the lions spread from the Gir forest into a much wider landscape, making the subspecies less fragile.
Worth noting
All wild Asiatic lions still live in one Indian state, so a disease outbreak or disaster could hit the whole population. A large share now live outside protected forests, in farmland and near villages, which raises the risk of conflict with people.