Rangers at the Gir National Park in the state of Gujarat found the mutilated bodies of two lionesses and a cub deep inside the park, said  the park's conservation officer Bharat Pathak.

According to an authentic estimate over 300 of Asiatic lions that once roamed from Turkey to India still exist in the Gir park. The poachers left the pelts of the lions, taking their claws, bones and skulls - which are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine - raising fears that a professional gang of poachers was behind the killings, said Pathak.

The department has announced a reward of $1,120 if "someone can give a clue about who killed the lions," he said. This is the first case of poaching inside the protected area althoug several of the lions have been killed in open fields the recent past. Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India said, "This is of particular importance because it happened right inside the park"