Gir Hill Forest
Gir Hill Forest
a forest preserve in India, in Gujarat state, on the Kathiawar Peninsula. Area, more than 300,000 hectares.
It is a dry, mixed deciduous forest (teak prevails), surrounded by a belt of thorny shrubbery. There are narrow strips of evergreen vegetation along the rivers. Gir Hill Forest was created in 1965 to preserve the last habitat of the Indian lion (Panthera leo persica), of which fewer than 200 remain. Because of the relative paucity of wild ungulates, cattle make up an important part of the lions’ diet.