New Delhi: Leopard population in Odisha has doubled to around 760 as compared to around 345 in 2014 census, revealed the ‘Status of Leopards in India 2018’ report released by Union Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar here, Monday.
According to the report, the population of leopards in the state is estimated to be around 760. The report shows a tremendous increase in the population of the spotted big cat as compared to the 2014 estimates.
Significantly, more than 60 per cent increase in the population of leopards has been recorded in the 2018 report across the country. The country now has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7,910, as per the census conducted in 2014, says the report.
The states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively.
The Union minister said that increase in tiger, lion and leopard population over the last few years is a testimony to the conservation efforts and of the fledgling wildlife and biodiversity of the country.
Javadekar remarked that monitoring of the tigers in India has clearly shown its umbrella role in the ecosystem, which has shed light on other charismatic species like the leopard.
It has been further revealed that a total of 5,240 adult individual leopards were identified in a total of 51,337 leopard photographs using the pattern recognition software.
Statistical analysis puts the leopard population at 12,800 within the tiger’s range.
“The leopards were estimated across forested habitats in tiger range areas of the country but other leopard occupied areas such as non-forested habitats (coffee and tea plantations and other land uses from where leopards are known to occur), higher elevations in the Himalayas, arid landscapes and majority of North East landscape were not sampled and, therefore, the population estimation should be considered as minimum number of leopards in each of the landscapes,” the ministry of Environment and Forests said.
