New Delhi: In a report released by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday, the ministry noted a sizeable increase in the leopard population in the country in the fifth cycle of leopard population estimation carried out in 2022. The last sampling was done in 2018.
In 2018, the leopard population in India stood at 12,852 which grew to 13,874 in 2022. The sampling area was kept the same in 2018 and 2022. This estimate represents a population in 70 percent of the leopard habitats in the country. Meanwhile, the Himalayas and the semi-arid parts of the country were not sampled.
As per the report, central parts of the country has shown a stable or slightly growing population of leopards (2018: 8,071, 2022: 8,820) but Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains experienced a decline (2018: 1,253, 2022: 1,109).
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 Gangetic plains areas, there is a -3.4 percent decline per annum, while the largest growth rate was in Central India and Eastern Ghats at 1.5 percent.
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Madhya Pradesh houses the largest population of leopards in the country – 3,907 (2018: 3,421), followed by Maharashtra (2022: 1,985; 2018: 1,690), Karnataka (2022: 1,879 ; 2018: 1,783) and Tamil Nadu (2022: 1,070; 2018: 868). Tiger Reserves or sites with highest leopard population are, Nagarajunasagar Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), followed by Panna (Madhya Pradesh) and Satpura (Madhya Pradesh).
The fifth cycle of leopard population estimation (2022) in India focused on forested habitats within 18 tiger states, covering four major tiger conservation landscapes. Non-forested habitats, arid, and high Himalayas above 2000 msl (~ 30 percent area) were not sampled for leopards.
This cycle was conducted as a foot survey spanning 6,41,449 km to estimate carnivore signs and prey abundance. Camera traps were strategically placed at 32,803 locations, resulting in a total of 4,70,81,881 photographs of which 85,488 photos were of leopards.
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