← Back to the map

The last wild home of the Asiatic lion, set in dry forest on the Deccan basalt of Saurashtra.

Gir’s hills and plateaus are cut into the Deccan Trap basalt of the Saurashtra peninsula, weathering to the rocky, dry deciduous country that suits its teak and acacia woodland. Seasonal rivers cut through the lava flows.

The forest is the only place on Earth where the Asiatic lion survives in the wild, brought back from the brink within this protected tract of volcanic upland.

Sources

• Wildlife Institute of India

A short reference note: this summary draws on third-party sources such as the Geological Survey of India and Wikipedia. In time I plan to give every geological feature its own learning-oriented write-up — with custom diagrams, graphs, and study pointers — as I’ve already done for the 11 locations that have an Instagram reel.