Seven Asiatic Lion cubs die in suspected disease outbreak.

Seven Asiatic Lion cubs have died in the Gir Forest National Park in the last week of May 2026, with a number of extra deaths thought to have occurred in areas of the forest outside the park. Seventeen adult Lions from the same population have been taken into quarantine by park officials.

A female Asiatic Lion with a cub in the Gir Forest National Park. Priyank Dhami/Wikimedia Commons.

The initial cause of the deaths was thought likely to be Canine Distemper Virus, a single-stranded RNA Virus of the Family Paramyxoviridae (the family of Viruses that includes the agents which cause Measles and Mumps in Humans), which can spread from domestic Dogs to wild Mammals, with Big Cats being particularly vulnerable. An outbreak of Canine Distemper in the Gir Forest killed 11 Lions in less than a month in 2018, and an outbreak in the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh has killed four Tigers in April and May 2026.

However, it is now thought more likely that the Lions have been infected with Babesiosis, which is caused by Babesia spp., a type of Apicomplexan (single-celled parasitic Eukaryote) related to the Malaria parasite, Plasmodium. The Babesia is common in Deer, which make up a significant part of the diet of Asiatic Lions, although it can be spread to other species via biting Ticks. Like the Plasmodium parasite which causes Malaria, Babesia attacks the red blood cells, causing a similar illness to Malaria, with symptoms including anaemia and failure of the liver and kidneys. This can occasionally infect Humans, but is more commonly a problem for Cattle who can become infected if grazing in areas where Deer graze. In Lions, Babesiosis is particularly dangerous to cubs, with healthy adults usually able to shake off the infection.

Asiatic Lions are a sub-population of the Northern Lion, Panthera leo leo, which was once found across West, Central, and North Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and the North Indian Plain. The Lions of Southern and East Africa are a separate subspecies, Panthera leo melanochaita. All surviving Asiatic Lions are found within a single population, the Gir Forest of southern Gujarat State, India. This population has been growing in recent years, with 350 Lions recorded in 2008 and 891 in 2025. However, like all Lions, Asiatic Lions are territorial, and with each pride needing a fairly large home range. Thus the recovery of the species means that they have spread beyond the Gir Forest National Park into the neighbouring Amreli and Bhavnagar districts, areas where they come into conflict with Human herders and farmers, presenting additional challenges for their conservation. Asiatic Lions are considered to be Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

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More than sixty dead in Indian heatwave.

More than sixty people have died in a heatwave affecting northern and central India this week. Sustained temperatures in excess of 45°C have been recorded across much of the region, with some areas experiencing peaks in excess of 50°C, although a record-breaking 52.9°C temperature recorded in Delhi on Wednesday 29 May 2024 has now been confirmed to have been erroneous; the correct temperature should have been a comparatively 'mild' 49.9°C.

A patient being treated for heatstroke in a hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State, this week. Reuters.

At least 23 of the people who have died are reported to have been election officials, obliged to remain at their posts, often outdoors in direct sunlight, throughout the day while polls are carried out. In Odisha State twenty-six people have died of suspected heat-related conditions, many of them truck-drivers who remained in hot vehicles. In Bihar State fourteen people are reported to have died of heat-related conditions, including ten polling officials. In Uttar Pradesh thirteen people have died of heat related conditions. Eight people have been confirmed to have died of heat-related conditions in Jharkhand, with more than 1300 others hospitalised. Four people are reported to have died of heat-related conditions in Rajasthan. 

Residents of Delhi queueing to collect water from a tanker this week. Getty Images.

Many areas of India, including Delhi are also suffering from extreme water-shortages at the moment, hampering people's efforts to keep hydrated in the extreme heat. The combination of extreme heat and drought has led to forest fires raging across parts of northern India and neighbouring Pakistan (where temperatures in excess of 52°C have been recorded in several places this week). The monsoon rains are reported to have arrived in Kerala on Friday 31 May, which may bring some relief to central parts of the country, though the heatwave in the north is predicted to continue for another week. This year's monsoon is also expected to be particularly severe, driven by the high temperatures, and will likely bring a new set of problems.

A forest fire in Uttarakhand on Wednesday 29 May 2024. Press Trust of India.

The high temperatures experienced in the past year have been linked to a combination of anthropogenic global warming, driven by emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, with an El Niño - Southern Oscillation climate system over the Pacific Ocean, a natural phenomenon which also tends to drive temperatures upwards. However, the El Niño system appears to have been weakening over the past months, with sea surface temperatures over the eastern equatorial Pacific actually being lower than the average for 1990-2020, while global temperatures have continued to rise, suggesting that the El Niño system may be playing as large a role in driving this year's high temperatures as previously assumed.

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Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall in Gujarat State, India.

Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in Gujarat State, close to the border with Pakistan, on the evening of Thursday 15 June 2023, bringing with it sustained wind speeds of 85 km per hour (a sustained wind speed is a wind speed maintained for a minute or longer) and gusts of up to 105 km per hour. Two people are known to have died following the event, described as a father and son who entered a flooded gully in an attempt to rescue some Goats, with 22 people reported injured in India and Pakistan. A much larger number of casualties was avoided by the evacuation of about 175 000 people from coastal areas in both countries, something made possible by satellite-tracking of tropical storms, which formerly killed thousands of people in South Asia every year. 

Flooding and storm damage in the Port of Jakhau, in the Kutch District of Gujarat State, following the passage of Cyclone Biparjoy. AP.

Tropical storms, called Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, are caused by solar energy heating the air above the oceans, which causes the air to rise leading to an inrush of air. If this happens over a large enough area the inrushing air will start to circulate, as the rotation of the Earth causes the winds closer to the equator to move eastwards compared to those further away (the Coriolis Effect). This leads to tropical storms rotating clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. These storms tend to grow in strength as they move across the ocean and lose it as they pass over land (this is not completely true: many tropical storms peter out without reaching land due to wider atmospheric patterns), since the land tends to absorb solar energy while the sea reflects it.

The formation of a tropical cyclone. Natural Disaster Management.

Despite the obvious danger of winds of this speed, which can physically blow people, and other large objects, away as well as damaging buildings and uprooting trees, the real danger from these storms comes from the flooding they bring. Each drop millibar drop in air-pressure leads to an approximate 1 cm rise in sea level, with big tropical storms capable of causing a storm surge of several meters. This is always accompanied by heavy rainfall, since warm air over the ocean leads to evaporation of sea water, which is then carried with the storm. These combined often lead to catastrophic flooding in areas hit by tropical storms. 

The formation and impact of a storm surge. eSchoolToday.

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Cattle herder killed by Crocodile in Gujarat State, India.

A cattle herder has died after being attacked by a Crocodile in the Bharuch District of Gujarat State, India, on Sunday 22 August 2021. Ramji Mansingh Rabari, 52, from the village of Limodara, was standing in the River Narmada, when he was attacked. A witness to the event who witnessed the event quickly summoned help from the nearby village of village of Ladwavad, but when villagers arrived with boats he had already bled to death.

 

Crocodiles by a river in Gujarat State, India. Indian Express.

There are three species of Crocodilians found in India, the Saltwater Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, the Mugger Crocodile, Crocodylus palustris, and the Gharail, Gavialis gangeticus. Of these the Gharail is unlikely to be found in a waterway of this type, and is generally a Fish-eater, not prone to attacking Humans.  Muggers are smaller that Saltwater and Nile Crocodiles, with males reaching about 3.5 m and females about 2.5 m, and are generally less considered less dangerous, as their preferred prey is animals smaller than Humans. However, as with other Crocodilians, the females can be highly aggressive during the summer, when they are nesting, leading to occasional Human fatalities.

Mugger Crocodiles were formerly found across South Asia from Iran to Myanmar and Nepal to Sri Lanka, but they are thought to be extinct in Myanmar, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, and the species is considered to be Vulnerable under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of  Threatened Species.

Crocodiles were previously uncommon in Bharuch District, but their numbers have risen sharply in recent years, possibly due to altered water flows caused by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. This rise in Crocodile numbers has brought the Animals into contact with Human populations that are not used to their presence, leading to a rising number of fatalities. 

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Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake in Gujarat State, India.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake at a depth of about 10 km about 80 km to the east of the town of Bhuj slightly before 8.15 pm local time (slightly before 2.45 pm GMT) on Sunday 14 June 2020. There are no reports of any damage or injuries relating to this quake, across much of Gujarat as well as in parts of Sindh Province in Pakistan.

The approximate location of the 14 June 2020 Gujarat Earthquake. USGS.

The boundary between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates runs about 400 km to the northeast of Gujarat, but the area still suffers occasional quakes as a result of the ongoing collision. The Indian Plate is moving northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift along this boundary, which has led to the formation of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the other mountain ranges of Central Asia., and which makes the nations in this boundary zone prone to Earthquakes.

 Plate boundaries and movements beneath southern Pakistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. University of Southampton.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

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Locust swarms begin moving from Pakistan into northwest India.

Swarms of Desert Locusts, Schistocerca gregaria, that have been troubling Pakistan since November have began to move across the border into neighbouring areas of Gujarat and Rajastan states, India, this week, threatening crops in the region. Farmers in the area are reported to be battling the Insects on their own, by burning tyres and banging pots and drums, while complaining that little support is being received from central government, despite ample warnings having been given by Pakistan.

Locusts attacking crops in Gujarat State, India, this week. Go News India.

Desert Locusts typically have two or three generations in a year, but when conditions are favourable then five or more generations can occur. The females lay eggs in an ootheca (egg sack) in soft sand, where they can remain dormant until conditions are favourable or hatch within a few days. Hatchlings can reach maturity in about five weeks, eating as much as one-and-a-half times their body weight each day, when they are potentially able to breed again.

The adult form of the Desert Locust has two forms, the more usual solitary form, which does not usually move far from the area where they emerge, and a gregarious form, which forms large swarms and can roam long distances. The change from solitary to gregarious Locusts can happen in individuals, which change from one to the other in response to a rise in population density, but the reverse, a change from gregarious to solitary Locusts, can only happen when a new generation reaches maturity.

 Solitary (top) and gregarious (bottom) Desert Locust nymphs. Compton Tucker/NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Wikimedia Commons.

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