Madhya Pradesh tops in Leopard population as well

India’s leopard count estimated to be 12,800 with 60% increase in four years

Increase in Tiger, Lion & Leopards numbers over the last few years is a testimony to the conservation efforts and of the fledgling wildlife & biodiversity of the country.

India now has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted 2014. More than 60% increase in population has been recorded. The States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively.

Monitoring of the tiger in India has clearly shown its umbrella role in the ecosystem, which has shed light on other charismatic species like the Leopard. These stats were outcome of ‘Status of Leopards in India’ report which was released by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar recently.

India’s world record tiger survey also estimated the population of leopards and the tiger range was found home to 12,852 (12,172-13,535) leopards. They occur in prey rich protected areas as well as multi-use forests. A total of 5,240 adult individual leopards were identified in a total of 51,337 leopard photographs using pattern recognition software. Statistical analysis estimates the leopard population at – 12,800 leopards within the tiger’s range.

The leopard was estimated across forested habitats in tiger range areas of the country but other leopard occupied areas such as non-forested habitats (coffee and tea plantations and other land uses from where leopards are known to occur), higher elevations in the Himalayas, arid landscapes and majority of North East landscape were not sampled and, therefore, the population estimation should be considered as minimum number of leopards in each of the landscapes.

Tiger has not only served as an umbrella species but even its monitoring has helped evaluate the status of other species, like the leopard. The National Tiger Conservation Authority-Wildlife Institute of India (NTCA-WII) shall be reporting on several other species shortly.

According to report, Leopards are widely distributed species and in comparison to other large carnivores have been able to survive better in an increasingly human dominated landscape, largely due to its adaptable behaviour and due to protection. Leopards serve as apex predators in most of the forested landscapes in India, beyond the realm of tiger and lion. While leopards have been persecuted historically, we find them evoking a negative response in large parts of country due to negative interactions with humans all the more today.

Despite their widespread distribution, leopard habitats are being increasingly fragmented, and such small fragmented areas with low wild prey densities cannot harbour a sizable population of leopards. This has resulted in leopards venturing out into human dominated landscapes and ending up in conflicts. Intense conflicts are mostly reported from hills of Shivalik-Terai landscape and parts of Central India.

Report further says that, the forests of Central Indian landscape harbours the largest population of leopards in its fragmented forest patches. While genetic data and population data suggest that leopard populations across is continuous, there is an increasing need for corridor connectivity, and improvement of habitat, to reduce interface with humans and thereby reducing the chance of conflict. With leopards venturing out into human habitations more often, developmental projects need appropriate mitigation measures and greener technology to sustain not only leopards, but also other carnivores and biodiversity in general.