India’s leopard population has shown a significant 60 per cent jump in their number since 2014 raising the total number of the country’s leopards to 12,852 in 2018, according to a study carried out in 2018, reports BSS.
The study report styled “Status of Leopards India 2018” released here on Monday revealed that India’s total leopard population has stood at 12,852 compared to the previous estimate of 7,910 in 2014.
The leopard population has been estimated through camera trapping method and the current estimate is based on sampling that was carried out in tiger-bearing areas, the report added.
“Increase in the number of tiger, lion and leopards over the last few years in India proved that the country has done well in protecting its environment, eco-system and biodiversity,” said India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar while releasing the report.
The report revealed that Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively.
Citing region-wise distribution, the report said that the highest number of 8,071 leopards were found in central India and the Eastern Ghats, which include the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In the Western Ghats region, comprising Karnataka, Tamil Nadi, Goa and Kerala, there are 3,387 leopards.
Meanwhile, there are 1,253 leopards in Shivalik and Gangetic Plains, which includes Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar. In the North East hills, 141 leopards were found.
“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 within the tiger’s range,” according to a statement issued by ministry of environment, forest and climate change.
In India, leopards have experienced a possibly human-induced 75-90% population decline in the last 120-200 years. Poaching, habitat loss, depletion of natural prey and conflict are major threats to leopard population in the Indian subcontinent.
All these have resulted in changing the species status from “Near Threatened’ to ‘Vulnerable ‘by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN).