Status of Leopards in India

The Union Environment Ministry released the ‘Status of Leopards in India, 2022’ report recently, revealing crucial insights into the leopard population across the country.

About the report:

• The National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India, and State Forest Departments collaborated on the fifth cycle leopard population estimation.
• This quadrennial exercise, known as the “Monitoring of Tiger, Co-predators, prey and their habitat,” is vital for the country’s conservation efforts.
• The fifth cycle of leopard population estimation (2022) focused on forested habitats within 18 tiger states, covering four major tiger conservation landscapes.
• Non-forested habitats, arid, and high Himalayas above 2000 mean seas level were not sampled.

Key highlights of the report:

Marginal Increase in Overall Leopard Population:

• The report indicates a marginal increase in the overall leopard population, with an estimated 13,874 leopards in India, up from 12,852 in 2018.

Geographical Distribution:

• Central India and Eastern Ghats boast the highest leopard population (8,820), followed by the Western Ghats (3,596), and the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains (1,109).
• Statewise, Madhya Pradesh leads with 3,907 leopards, followed by Maharashtra (1,985), Karnataka (1,879), and Tamil Nadu (1,070).
• Tiger Reserves with the highest leopard population are Nagarajunasagar Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Panna (Madhya Pradesh), and Satpura (Madhya Pradesh).

Decrease in Population in Some Regions:

• The Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains recorded a worrying 3.4% per annum decline, from 1,253 in 2018 to 1,109 in 2022.
• Some states reported a decline in leopard population, including Odisha, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, and Goa.

Factors Behind Decline:

• Increased tiger populations, poaching, habitat loss, and road accidents contribute to the decline in leopard populations.
• In Uttarakhand, increased tiger density is linked to a significant decline in leopard population in the Ramnagar Forest Division.
  • Tiger population has been known to adversely impact the habitat and resources available to leopards and other creatures lower down the predator chain.

Benefits from Tiger Conservation Efforts:

• Tiger conservation efforts positively impact leopard populations, especially in the Central India and Eastern Ghats landscape.
• Protective measures under tiger conservation contribute to the growth of leopard populations.

Leopard-Human Conflict:

• Leopard adaptability in various habitats leads to increasing leopard-human conflicts.
• In the Shivalik region, approximately 65% of the leopard population is outside protected areas, contributing to conflicts.
• Maharashtra reported 113 fatal attacks in the last seven years, and Karnataka reported over 100 human-leopard encounters, largely due to habitat loss.

Leopard-Human Conflict by States:

• In Kerala, from 2013 to 2019, there were 547 reported incidents of human-leopard conflict, including 173 livestock deaths or injuries.
• In Uttar Pradesh, conflicts often occur in areas less than 10 km wide, with attacks recorded in homes, agricultural fields, and farmlands.
• In Tamil Nadu, commercial plantations near forests are occupied by leopards, leading to conflicts.

Key Concerns and Conservation Strategies:

• The report highlights the challenges posed by habitat loss, mining, and human activities.
• Conservation efforts, especially under tiger conservation, play a vital role in managing leopard populations.
• Balancing human activities and preserving natural habitats are crucial for mitigating leopard-human conflicts.

About Indian leopards:

• The leopard ( Panthera pardus ) is the smallest species of the genus Panthera .
• There are nine subspecies of leopard in the world, and India supports the largest population of a subspecies (the Indian subspecies is P. pardus fusca ) outside Africa.
• Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) are distributed across a variety of forested habitats in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of Pakistan (Indian subcontinent).
• Like lions (Panthera leo), leopards came to India from the west, most likely Ethiopia.
• Indian leopards are apex predators crucial for maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
• Diet: Opportunistic predator, feeding on a variety of prey including mammals, birds, and reptiles.
• Habitat: It inhabits tropical rainforests, dry deciduous forests, temperate forests and northern coniferous forests but does not occur in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans.
  • Adaptable in both food habits and habitats, the leopard thrives in various ecological settings, making it widespread in both forested and populated areas.

Characteristics:

• The Indian leopard has strong legs and a long, well-formed tail, broad muzzle, short ears, small, yellowish-grey eyes, and light-grey ocular bulbs.
• Its coat is spotted and rosetted on a pale yellow to yellowish-brown or golden background, except for the melanistic forms; the spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs.
• Indian leopards have larger rosettes than other subspecies.
• Their coat color varies by habitat, with a paler coat in desert habitats, a greyer coat in colder climates, and a more ochre coat in rainforest habitats.
• They are expert tree climbers that can carry their prey to safety in trees to eat at their leisure.

Conservation status:

• Wildlife (Protection) Act: Leopard listed under Schedule I.
• IUCN Red Data list: vulnerable.
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix.

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