A man has been filmed luring an endangered lion by attaching a dead animal carcass to the back of a motorcycle.
The prowling male Asiatic lion appears from a dust cloud behind the biker as it rides out of shot.
The footage was taken in Amreli district in India’s Gujarat state and has since been posted onto social media.
In the clip, a man, who has not been identified, can be seen riding a motorbike with the carcass of an unidentified animal tied to the back of the bike.
British husband and wife among four killed on way to wedding in horror crash
The biker rides away leaving a cloud of dust, out of which appears an endangered male Asiatic lion, walking in the direction of the motorbike.
Chief conservator of the local forests, Dushyant Vasavada, said an investigation had been launched, saying “strict action” would be taken against the man in the video who he said had been identified.
However, reports suggest the man was a lion tracker who was moving the corpse away from humans so the lions could eat it in peace.
Royal Marine died from gunshot wound to head days after splitting from girlfriend
Asiatic lions are listed as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
An August 2017 study found there were only 650 individuals of the species living in the wild and they are a protected species in India.
No arrests have been reported.
