Video: Lionesses, 8 Cubs Wander On To Highway In Gir Somnath, Halt Vehicles

Vehicles came to a halt as a pride of lions wandered out of the forests and on to the highway in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district.

A family of lions, comprising two lionesses and eight cubs, were seen on the Ronj Road State Highway near Kodinar, which is around an hour's drive from the famed Gir National Park, the only habitat of Asiatic lions in the world.

The family of lions had reportedly been seen in the villages near Kodinar over the last few days and are now being seen around the Kodinar town. They are now being increasingly spotted on the roads too.

The viral video comes at a time a lion mating program is underway in the district. Further, among the problems likely troubling lions in the forest areas is a rapidly growing swarm of mosquitoes.

Similar visuals had surfaced in February when traffic on the Bhavnagar-Somnath Highway in Gujarat stopped briefly after an Asiatic lion was spotted walking on the road in surprise, halting the movement of vehicles for at least 15 minutes.

The 'king of the jungle' was seen crossing a bridge and cars, trucks and bikes stopped to let the lion cross the highway. The video was shot from a car that had stopped on the other side of the road. The incident took place in Gujarat's Amreli district. The lion walked towards a temple down the slope adjacent to the highway.

The estimated population of Asiatic lions in Gujarat has increased to 891 against 674 five years ago as per the census conducted this month, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had announced in May.

The 16th Asiatic lion census covered 11 districts, including Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Morbi, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Amreli, Porbandar and Botad.