The Gir sanctuary in the western state of Gujarat is home to 89 adult male lions, 124 adult female lions and 146 younger lions, the census showed.

"The rise in their number reflects they are in a conducive environment and their population is thriving," state Chief Minister Narendra Modi told a news conference on Thursday.

Forest officials said more than 1,000 conservationists and volunteers had fanned out in the forest to track the animal's pugmarks for the count, instead of the traditional method of using live buffalo calves to bait them.

The "bait method" was abandoned five years ago following protests by animal rights activists.

"Each animal has different pugmarks. Each of them has a different pattern, in terms of its paws and web designs," said P.B. Dave, a senior forest official.

News of the increase in the number of Asiatic lions came as a relief after reports that tigers may have been wiped out entirely in the Sariska sanctuary -- where the Project Tiger conservation programme began in 1973 and where there were an estimated 16-18 big cats a year ago.

Activists fear the story may be the same in sanctuaries across India, which has almost half the world's surviving tigers.