Rajkot: A five-year-old male Asiatic lion was found dead in a farm well on the outskirts of Dhokadva village in Gir Gadhada taluka of Gir Somnath district on Friday.Forest officials recovered the carcass and sent it for a postmortem to ascertain the cause of death. The lion is suspected to have fallen into the well two or three days earlier and drowned.Farm owner Arjan Dangodra noticed a foul smell when he went to the farm to switch on an irrigation pump. On checking the well, he found the lion’s carcass in the water and immediately alerted the forest department.According to officials, the carcass was decomposed, suggesting that the animal had been dead for several days. The well was covered with a protective net, but a section of it was found to be broken. Officials suspect the lion fell through the damaged portion while moving through the farm.Forest department personnel reached the site and carried out the required procedures before sending the carcass for examination.
