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Human-leopard conflict has increased threefold in Karnataka
Why is it in News?
- Threefold increase in leopard capture after GoI guidelines to mitigate Human-leopard conflict has been witnessed.
Details:
- The number of leopards captured per month increased from 1.5 to 4.6 after the human-leopard policy guidelines were brought out in 2011.
- There was an increase in the number of leopards translocated per month from 1 to 3.5.
- The highest number of translocations occurred into Bandipur Tiger Reserve (22.5%), followed by Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (20.6%) and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (15%).
- Indian Leopard:
(1) It is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on IUCN list.
(2) It is listed in CITES Appendix I.
(3) Its populations have declined following habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching for the illegal trade of skins and body parts, and persecution due to conflict situations.
(4) The Indian leopard is one of the big cats occurring on the Indian subcontinent, apart from the Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard and clouded leopard.
(5) The Indian leopard is distributed in India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of Pakistan.
(6) Highest population is recorded in MP (1817) followed by Karnataka (1129) as per 2014 census.