INDIA RELEASES 5TH CYCLE LEOPARD POPULATION ESTIMATION

1. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have jointly released a comprehensive report on the status of leopards in India.
2. This report provides information about leopard distribution, population trends, and conservation challenges based on data collected during the 5th cycle of leopard population estimation conducted in 2022.
3. Madhya Pradesh has the largest population of leopards in the country - 3907 (2018: 3421), followed by Maharashtra (2022: 1985; 2018: 1,690), Karnataka (2022: 1,879; 2018: 1,783) and Tamil Nadu (2022: 1,070); 2018:868)

Scientific name: Panthera pardus orientalis Lifespan: 12 – 17 years Class: Mammalia Status:  Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and included in Appendix I of CITES. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List Habitat And Distribution:  Tropical rainforests to temperate deciduous and alpine coniferous forests. It is also found in dry scrubs and grasslands, the only exception being desert and the mangroves of Sundarbans. It shares its territory with the tiger in 17 states. Its range extends from the Indus River in the west to the Himalayas in the north and the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra in the east.

Survey Methodology:

1. The leopard census was conducted as part of the quadrennial(period of four years) survey aimed at monitoring tigers, co-predators, prey, and their habitats across 18 tiger states in India.
2. Field teams extensively covered forest habitats, walking over 641,000 kilometers of trails to estimate leopard signs and prey abundance.
3. Camera traps were deployed at 32,803 locations, resulting in over 85,000 leopard photo-captures.
4. Scientific methodologies combining habitat evaluation, camera trapping, and population modeling were employed to analyze the data.

Key Findings:

1. India's leopard population is estimated at 13,874 individuals, indicating a stable population compared to 2018 estimates.

   

2. States like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka have large populations of leopards, with Madhya Pradesh leading.
3. Protected areas and tiger reserves, such as Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve and Panna Tiger Reserve, support high densities of leopards.

Population Trends:

1. The overall leopard population at the national level has remained stable since 2018, with Central India and Eastern Ghats showing minor annual growth rates.
2. However, the Shivalik-Gangetic landscape has witnessed a concerning annual decline in leopard numbers.
3. Notably, there's a marginal growth rate of 1.08% in specific areas surveyed in both 2018 and 2022, but this doesn't cover approximately 30% of leopard habitats not surveyed.

Conservation Challenges:

1. Rising human-leopard conflicts pose significant conservation and social challenges, highlighting the importance of securing habitats outside protected areas.
2. Habitat division, poaching, prey depletion, killings, traffic accidents, and illegal wildlife trade are key threats.
3. Climate change impacts may worsen resource pressures, necessitating urgent conservation interventions.

   

Recommendations:

1. Strengthen protection in tiger corridors and buffer zones to facilitate wildlife movement.
2. To promote community management models in multi-use forests with incentives for co-existence.
3. Develop early warning systems using technology to prevent conflict scenarios.
4. Enhance coordination between central and state agencies.
5. Expand monitoring to unsurveyed areas by including conflict hotspots in future census efforts.

Conclusion:

The report highlights the critical importance of proactive conservation measures and collaborative efforts to safeguard India's leopard population and their habitats.

 

Must Check: Best IAS Coaching In Delhi