Gulf Today Report

A hotel in Gujarat had an unusual visitor early in the morning recently. This visitor just leaped over the fence and went straight into the portico of the hotel.

The CCTV showed a lion casually walking around the courtyard of the hotel in Junagadh.

The video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media.

The clip was shared by Indian Forest Service officer Susanta Nanda on Twitter. He wrote, “It didn’t bother the security to open the gate even... Time to shift some of them to a new home to avoid negative interface.”

The footage was first posted by Udayan Kachchhi.

Udayan wrote on Twitter, “Lions in the city of Junagadh is a regular affair nowadays…”

A lion approaches the hotel gate.

The hotel is believed to be Hotel Sarovar Portico, located near Girnar Hills. The place is close to the Gir Lion Sanctuary, famous for the Asiatic lion in the world.

The video has over 20,000 views on Twitter.

A Twitter user with the name Ram_treehugger said, “Could you let us know whether there are any measures taken  to ensure lions don't roam in human habitats?

“Read 50% of lion population live outside of protected areas in Gujarat. This risks both human and lion lives. They should be relocated to other places.”

Sonal Ramnathkar said, “Cats are territorial. They go back to their old homes when you move house. Make it a crime to build real estate around a margin of protected areas.”

The lion is seen entering the hotel’s portico. 

Kuldip Pipaliya said, “I am not sure about rehabilitation but, in the Gir Forest, you used to find humans and lions share the forest.”

Habib Ahmed said, “How dare this lion enter the hotel without getting the permission from the security staff?”

The lion could not be bothered. It gracefully walked out of the hotel. Maybe it did not like the ambience.