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Gir forest and other protected areas around it-Pania Wildlife Sanctuary, Mitiyala Wildlife Sanctuary, Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Amreli social forestry division and Bhavnagar-is the last abode of the Asiatic lion. Once spread across many parts of Asia, Asiatic lions were restricted to Gir forest by the beginning of the 20th century. Rampant hunting over previous centuries had reduced their population to just a few dozen surviving in Gir. But Rasulkhanji Babi, then Nawab of the erstwhile state of Junagadh, put a ban on the hunting of the big cats and helped recover their population from the brink of extinction. Gir forest was declared a sanctuary in 1965. Subsequently, in 1975, 258.71 sq. km of the Gir sanctuary was declared a National Park where strict wildlife and forest laws were put in place. Today, lions have extended their territory beyond the Gir forest and are ranging other protected areas spread across Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts in Saurashtra region.

The lion population has seen a steady growth over the last four decades. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global body working for conservation of the natural world, had categorised Asiatic lions as a critically endangered species in 2000 when the population of the big cat was around 300 as per the 1995 population estimation exercise. But, as the population of the carnivore improved to 359 individuals by the year 2005, the risk level was downgraded by IUCN. Their population improved to 411 by 2010 and to 523 by 2015. The big cats, however, continue to be an endangered species on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species on the grounds of the size of its population and the fact that the Asiatic lions are surviving in one subpopulation. The population growth of 27.25 per cent between 2010 and 2015 was the highest in the recorded history of Gir. Among all the four districts with lion population, Amreli had recorded the highest-61 per cent growth. The number of Asiatic lions in Amreli went up from 108 in 2010 to 174 in 2015. This rate was only 16 per cent in Junagadh-Gir Somnath and 12 per cent in Bhavnagar. More interestingly, the population of lions living outside protected areas (PA) or on agro-pastoral land grew by a hefty 126 per cent in the five years taking their number to 167 from 74.