AHMEDABAD: Hundreds of new guards and closed-circuit TV cameras will be used to protect rare Asiatic lions threatened by poachers and villagers in their only natural habitat, Indian officials said on Saturday.

The government of the western state of Gujarat, where the Gir wildlife sanctuary is located, set up an Asiatic Lion Protection Cell after 10 lions were found dead during the last six weeks, six of them killed by poachers, they said.

Another 21 lions have died over the last five years after falling into open wells in the park, raising questions about the safety of the wild animals and the conservation system in the sprawling, 1,400 sq km sanctuary.

“I admit lion protection has not been as water-tight as it should be and we are now going to make fundamental changes to safeguard them,” P.N. Roychoudhary, a senior state forestry official said.

According to a government census, the number of lions in Gir, where they are protected and bred in natural conditions, had risen to 359 in 2005 from 327 in 2001.—Reuters