90 leopard deaths recorded till November in U’khand
DEHRADUN: Rising cases of human-leopard conflict with regular declaration of the big cat as man-eater, leading to its killing, has put spotlight on the animal that looks in danger in Uttarakhand.
There is no proper count of leopards in the state. In 2015, officials at the state forest department began an estimation of the leopard population similar to the All India Tiger Estimation, but the move did not see progress beyond the first phase.
Data collected in the first phase only helped the department to learn about the relative abundance of the animal based on encounter rates.
“It is difficult to run phase 3 of leopard estimation in the state the way it is done for tigers because the area is too extensive and not all of it is forest area in entirety,” said Dhananjai Mohan, additional principal chief conservator of forests.
According to the data collected by the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 90 leopards died in the state till November this year, out of which six were shot dead by the forest department after being declared as man-eaters and two were killed by villagers.
In the past 14 years, 166 leopards have been declared as maneaters in Uttarakhand.
“State-wise camera trapping for estimation of leopards has not been done yet, but it is possible to do so. Estimates of leopards are available in protected areas and that data can be analysed to derive on an approximate count of the population of leopards,” said Bivash Pandav, a scientist at Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
He added that state should find out an estimate of leopards at least in the areas which are hotspots of human-leopard conflict.
Vidya Athreya, a Maharashtra-based wildlife expert, a state with significant population of leopards, said, “More than an estimation, what matters is whether the conflict has been resolved or not. Reducing the conflict is something more achievable than conducting an estimation study.”
Human-leopard conflicts are high in Pauri-Garhwal, Tehri, Almora and Pithoragarh districts.
In a study conducted this year, experts from the WII had identified hotspots of humanleopard conflict, which included Pauri town, Kotdwar, Srinagar, Dugadda and Pokhra.
The study showed that in these areas, annually average human deaths due to leopard attacks was estimated to be three and average injuries were 11 between 2006 and 2016.
Laxman Rawat, divisional forest officer (DFO), Pauri, said that conflict has increased in areas with high migration.
“As land is vacant and there is no proper cleaning of the area. This gives the animal an idea that there is no human habitation, but some people still live there and they are the ones who get attacked,” added Rawat.
HUMANLEOPARD CONFLICTS ARE HIGH IN PAURIGARHWAL, TEHRI, ALMORA AND PITHORAGARH DISTRICTS