New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- Eight months ago, on a warm afternoon, the Barabanki forest division in Uttar Pradesh was inundated with calls from residents. Shahpur, a small village in the district, had reportedly witnessed its first lion sighting. It was not a villager who spotted the giant cat during his morning stroll. Instead, it surfaced in a photograph that rapidly spread across WhatsApp groups and other social media: a majestic lion standing tall with its mane glowing in the morning sun. It was very reminiscent of The Lion King.

The image then reached the divisional forest officer of Barabanki, Akash Deep Badhawan, who remained surprisingly calm. "I have been working in wildlife for a long time. I know my animals," says Badhawan, a secon...