Asian elephant
The Asian elephant ("Elephas maximus"), also called Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus "Elephas" and is distributed in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India and Nepal in the west to Borneo in the south. Three subspecies are recognised—"E. m. maximus" from Sri Lanka, "E. m. indicus" from mainland Asia and "E. m. sumatranus" from the island of Sumatra. The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia.
Gir National Park
The Asiatic lion's habitat is dry scrub land and open deciduous forest. These lions were once found across northern Africa, south west Asia and northern Greece. The lion population which was 411 in 2010 has increased to 523 in 2015 and all of them are in or around the Gir Forest National Park. The first modern day count of lions was done by Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth, the principal of Rajkumar College, Rajkot and R.S. Dharmakumarsinhji sometime between 1948 and 1963, probably early in his tenure as the principal during that period.
Even though the Gir Forest is well protected, there are instances of Asiatic lions being poached. They have also been poisoned for attacking livestock. Some of the other threats include floods, fires and the possibility of epidemics and natural calamities. Gir nonetheless remains the most promising long term preserve for them.
While most would see the lions as aggressive and dangerous, the lions of Gir rarely attack people. They live in a very close proximity to people, which makes their behavior different almost as if they have an acquaintanceship with the neighboring people. The lions who remember being hunted have now taken the higher road and stopped the circle of life.