He Asiatic lion, long celebrated as the king of beasts and as a symbol of power and leadership, roamed the wilds from Greece to central India 2,000 years ago. Mauryan Emperor Asoka erected the famous sandstone pillar at Sarnath (crowned as the ?Lion capital?) on which four carved lions sit back to back facing four directions. This eventually became the symbol for independant India and replaced the King of England on India?s bank notes after Independence. Over thousands of years, as human population began to grow and took over forests and scrubland, Asiatic lions were nearly driven to extinction. By 1910, there were probably no more than 100 Asiatic lions left in the wild. Luckily, the few Asiatic lions that were left came under the protection of the Nawab of Junagadh, a local ruler in what is now Gujarat. The Nawab banned all lion hunting and lion populations began to rise. By 1947, there were about 200 lions in the wild. It was then that the government created the Gir National Park ? covering over 1,000 sq. km. Today, Gir is the only place to see Asiatic lions in the wild.