
The wildlife community has recently delivered some amazing news! Word has spread that the population of Asiatic lions in India has gone up over the years. Living currently at the Gir National Park, Gujarat, the lion population of India has increased from 359 in 2005 to 523 in 2015. Internationally, there are currently only two places where you can find lions in their natural habitat: India and Africa.
Feline Hotspots
The northern lion subspecies, including the Caspian, Barbary, and Asiatic lions, once populated the Earth everywhere, from India to West Africa. Over the years, the more regionally specific groups evolved to have distinct genetic markers. While Asiatic Cheetahs can only be seen in Iran presently, India is the only host to the Asiatic lion. When the news broke that the population might need a place to expand, the neighboring states of India showed interest. However, for now, Gujarat will remain the sole state having any lion population. The Barda Wildlife Sanctuary has been named to become the second protected region on Earth to have lions for people to see.
Efforts for Protection

Due to the rapid decline in their numbers, efforts have been made to conserve and, if possible, increase the feline population in the country. Specifically the tigers, lions, and cheetahs. There was a ruling by the Indian Supreme Court in 2013 where it ordered the shift of a portion of the lions to another location. The reason behind this is the danger of the spread of diseases along with the other overall security risks for the whole lion population. Through the years, governments have also used schools to raise awareness about these issues. Additionally, for a long time, in the state of Gujarat, India, there have been conservation plans in place to protect these lions. Over time, this has resulted in such a population growth of lions that they now need additional sanctuaries to live and prosper further.
The DC Universe Still Doesn’t Know How to do Justice to Its Villains
The rivalry between the DCEU and the MCU is legendary. But, there is no denying the fact that for the last few years, while MCU has consistently churned out box-office hits, DCEU has failed to do the same. It’s quite evident that the DCEU has been struggling to keep up with Marvel and has become relatively underwhelming as a franchise. One of the main causes behind this persistent issue with the DCEU is its poor treatment and handling of the villains in the narratives of the movies.
The Villain Problem
Despite a few blockbusters, one of the reasons behind the poor performance of DCEU is that it wastes its villains. The problem varies from movie to movie, but there’s always an almost similar way of handling the antagonists. With an absence of a distinct narrative arc, many major franchise villains fall flat, while many more are severely incapacitated or otherwise rendered powerless. This absence of a long-lasting villain has prevented the DCEU from presenting a genuine threat to the heroes that could leave a lasting impact on the audience. Secondly, most of these defeats in the movies have been far too easy, making the DCEU heroes relatively un-heroic at the end.
The Designing Problem
Designing of the villains is another key problem within the cinematic world of DCEU which has been present since the very beginning. This problem is largely due to the extensive and creative liberties taken with the characterizations and appearances of the villains, which creates a big difference from their origins i.e. the source material. This factor has left audiences and comic fans dismayed. The DCEU needs to start creating and slowly building up more complex, layered, and close-to-authentic antagonist characters, who actually prove to be a proper match for the heroes of the franchise, instead of coming up with yet another simple throwaway villain or a CGI-dominated one in the next movie.