A Massive Increase in Leopard Numbers in The Country

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has released the Status of Leopards, 2018 report.

There are an estimated 12,852 leopards in the Indian forests.
Of these, 3421 are in Madhya Pradesh, 1783 in Karnataka and 1690 in Maharashtra.
The previous estimate of these big cats was 7910 and was conducted in 2014.
Compared with 2014,more than 60% increase in population has been recorded.
Releasing the report, the Environment Minister has pointed that the increase in tiger, lion and leopard populations shows that the conservation efforts are yielding results.
It also shows how India is taking care of its environment, ecology and biodiversity.

The report shows that Central and Eastern Ghats have the highest leopard numbers at 8071.
The western ghats region has 3387 leopards, the Shiwaliks and Gangetic plains combined consists of 1253 leopards.
In the Northeastern Hill ranges, there are only 141 leopards.
The study was conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
Camera traps, satellite imaging, field work by forest officers’ teams were used for the survey.
While the increase in leopards numbers is a good sign, conservationists caution that over the last 100-125 years leopard habitats have been shrinking and there is an increased risk of man-animal conflict.
The study was carried out only in the tiger-populated forests under Project Tiger, and leopard populations in agricultural, non-forested areas like tea and coffee plantations.
Most parts of the Northeast have not been surveyed.
The threats to the leopard in India are poaching, habitat loss, depletion of natural prey and human-animal conflict.
Fragmentation of forests and increased human-leopard conflict are major threats.
When forests get fragmented, leopards venture closer to human settlements, this is when conflict arises.
While development cannot be stopped, green technologies can be deployed to increase forest cover and protect the species.