India's Leopard Population Rises To 13,874, Madhya Pradesh Logs Highest

The "Status of Leopards in India" report identified tiger reserves Nagarjunasagar Srisailam, Panna and Satpura as the ones with the highest leopard population.

The "Status of Leopards in India" report identified tiger reserves Nagarjunasagar Srisailam, Panna and Satpura as the ones with the highest leopard population.

Source : Getty images

New Delhi: India's leopard population has seen an uptick, rising from 12,852 in 2018 to 13,874 in 2022. However, there has been a slight decline in the number of these big cats in the Shivalik Hills and the Indo-Gangetic Plains, stated the Union Environment Ministry on Thursday.

Presenting the "Status of Leopards in India" report, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav highlighted Madhya Pradesh as having the highest number of leopards in the country with 3,907, up from 3,421 in 2018.

Maharashtra witnessed an increase in the number of these felines from 1,690 in 2018 to 1,985 in 2022, from 1,783 to 1,879 in Karnataka, and from 868 to 1,070 in Tamil Nadu.

"Central India shows a stable or slightly growing leopard population (8,820 in 2022 against 8,071 in 2018), the Shivalik Hills and the Indo-Gangetic Plains saw a decline (from 1,253 in 2018 to 1,109 in 2022)," the ministry said in a statement, PTI quoted saying.

"If we look at the area which was sampled both in 2018 and 2022 across India, there is a 1.08 percent per annum growth. In the Shivalik hills and the Gangetic plains, there is a 3.4 percent decline per annum, while the largest growth rate was in central India and the Eastern Ghats of 1.5 percent," the ministry added.

The report identified tiger reserves Nagarjunasagar Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Panna (Madhya Pradesh), and Satpura (Madhya Pradesh) as the ones with the highest leopard population.

India's fifth cycle of leopard census focused on forested habitats across 18 tiger states, which encompass four significant tiger conservation landscapes. According to the ministry, this exercise did not sample non-forested ecosystems, arid areas, or the high Himalayas above 2,000 mean sea level, which make up about 30% of the region.

Role Of Foot Survey

A foot survey covering 6,41,449 km was part of this programme to gauge the amount of prey and the presence of carnivore. Camera traps were positioned at 32,803 strategic points, yielding 85,488 leopard photo grabs.

The findings underscore the importance of protected areas in leopard conservation. While tiger reserves serve as significant strongholds, addressing conservation gaps outside these areas is equally crucial, the ministry emphasised.

The increasing incidents of human-leopard conflict present challenges for both leopards and communities. Hence, collaborative efforts involving government agencies, conservation organisations, and local communities are essential to enhance habitat protection and mitigate conflict, the ministry stated.

Yadav highlighted the report's emphasis on conservation efforts beyond protected areas. "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance, this conservation journey embodies the ethos of one earth, one family, and one future," he said, PTI reported.