Ranchi: The leopard population in Jharkhand has recorded a substantial increase between 2014 and 2018, a national level leopard population census published late last year has shown.
The report, titled “Status of Leopards in India 2018”, was unveiled by Union minister for forest and environment Prakash Javdekar on December 22, 2020. While the report has pegged the rise of leopard population by 60% nationally, the population of the endangered species of the felines in Jharkhand has risen by nearly 53% in four years.
The study has estimated the population of leopards in the state at 46 in 2018. In the 2014 National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report “Status of Tigers, Co-Predators & Prey in India, 2014”, as many as 30 leopards were documented in Jharkhand’s wilds.
The study, which was conducted using advanced technologies such as camera traps, scat collections, DNA sampling and spatially explicit capture-recapture imaging technique, found the maximum presence of leopards in Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) and its adjoining areas, the study has claimed.
Lal Ratnakar Singh, the former principal chief of conservator of forests (PCCF) Jharkhand who was at the helm of affairs when the study was conducted, said, “ The leopard population in Jharkhand is not limited to PTR, wildlife sanctuaries and protected forests. They are very elusive creatures and prey on stray dogs, livestock and venture into human settlements clandestinely.”
D S Srivastava, a wildlife expert and member of the state wildlife board, said there are more leopards than what is reflecting in the study. “Leopards have a large prey base, unlike tigers. With the tiger population in PTR dwindling over the past years, leopards have filled in. The number of leopard sightings in PTR alone has gone up substantially in the past couple of years,” Srivastava told TOI.
PTR, Jharkhand’s lone tiger haven, did not record any tiger in a 2018 nationwide survey. In 2010, there were 10 tigers in PTR while in 2014, there were three.
PCCF Jharkhand P K Verma was not available for his comment on the matter.