It was a peaceful evening in Nagarhole National Park, Karnataka. We had just returned to the camp after a long day in the dense forest of Nagarhole. I was a part of the training programme organised by renowned tiger biologist, Dr. Ullas Karanth. Nagarhole had so much to offer, each one of us had lots to share. As we sat discussing, a large herd of spotted deer was grazing about 50 meters from us along the edge of the forest. In between the talk, I was observing the herd through my 10X50 binoculars. As I scanned the forest in low light, an unusual shape at the base of large tree caught my attention. It was twilight and I strained my eyes to get a proper view of the object. As the shape became clearer, I could see a brownish yellow animal with spots all over its body. For a moment, I could not believe my eyes. It was a Leopard! The next thing I remember, I was shouting hysterically to my friends that I could see a Leopard. Though a keen wildlifer, it was my first instance of sighting a leopard in the wild. I had seen tigers but no leopards till then. The leopard was there to stalk one of the deer. What surprised me was the amazing stealth with which it approached the tree. It stood there nicely camouflaged and the deer went on with their grazing for a few minutes before their sounding alarm calls. The leopard's presence was noticed and it returned to the forest as silently as it had come. But I was happy, for I had actually seen a leopard in the wild and I saw it before the deer!
Leopards (Panthera pardus) have always turned me on, even more than its striped cousin. The leopards or panthers, as they are also known, are found throughout the Indian Subcontinent, other parts of Asia and Africa. It is the most common representative of all the great cats of India. Because of its versatile habits and physical make-up, it has adapted itself perfectly well in practically all kinds of habitats. While the tiger prefers well wooded country with ample water, the leopard survives in a wide variety of habitats from dense forests to hills to scrub land to village fields. The average body length is about 7.5 feet from the snout to the tip of the tail. They are expert tree climbers and are known to carry their prey high up in the trees. This ability perfectly adapts it to the hilly terrain.
Like all the cats, leopards too lead a life of a predator. It mainly preys on spotted deer (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), common langur (Semnopithecus entellus), Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and other smaller animals and birds. The eyesight and hearing is very well developed in leopards. This ability helps in leading a nocturnal life. Leopards generally hunt during dusk and dawn, the prey is approached very cautiously and then attacked with lightning on the ground or from an overhanging branch. The prey is then held by the throat with its canines and then strangulated to death. It is then moved to a safe spot away from the prying eyes of hyenas, jackals and tigers, and then eaten at leisure. The leopards are amazingly strong for their size. They are known to carry a full-grown male spotted deer up a tree to protect it from scavenging animals.
The most striking feature of a leopard is its spotted coat. If observed closely, the spots are actually black rosettes arranged closely. Unfortunately, the beauty of its coat has turned out be a curse for this highly adaptable animal. Every year, several of them are trapped, shot, poisoned by poachers and their skin and body parts are sold illegally in the black market. The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) has maintained a record of leopard deaths in India since 1994. The figures are mind-boggling! In a span of a little over 17 years, 3578 leopards have been killed in India! And this tally does not include the ones killed but the carcasses not recovered by the investigation agencies and the leopards that died a natural death. This mayhem continues in 2011, with already 44 leopard deaths and 34 body part seizures reported. During the same period, 923 tiger deaths have been reported as well. If one looks at the quantum of the seizures from poachers by the authorities, for every two tiger skins there are at least 20 leopard skins! After looking at such statistics, one wonders whether these magnificent creatures will survive this decade.
Despite all this, leopards are still found in fairly decent numbers in most parts of the country. The fact is, apart from the few Protected Areas, no one really knows the real status of leopards. It is by no way less important than the tiger. It is at the apex of the ecosystem in many forests in India where tigers are not found. It is placed in 'Near Threatened' category in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and in the Schedule I of The Wildlife (Protection) Act of India.
Apart from India, the leopard occurs across most of sub-Saharan Africa, as remnant populations in North Africa, and then in the Arabian peninsula and Sinai/Judean Desert (Egypt/Israel/Jordan), south-western and eastern Turkey, and through Southwest Asia and the Caucasus into the Himalayan foothills, Nepal, China and the Russian Far East, as well as on the islands of Java and Sri Lanka (Nowell and Jackson 1996; Sunquist and Sunquist 2002; Hunter et al. in press). Leopards in India are patchily found throughout the country, except in the extreme Northwest and the deserts. Although leopards prey on a variety of species, stray dogs are one of its most preferred preys throughout the country. In fact, the most important reason for the presence of leopards outside Protected Areas, i.e. at the outskirts of towns and villages, are the abundance stray dogs in these areas. A striking example may be of the leopards found in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. The leopards here almost exclusively feed on the stray dogs found around this city forest. Leopards often wander to human settlements and habitation in search of stray dogs and other easy domestic prey (goats, chicken, cattle). This brings them in contact with the human beings quite frequently, and sometimes with disastrous results. There has been an increase in the number of man-leopard conflict cases throughout the country. In the absence of their preferred preys, leopards have been known to kill and eat human beings as well. Between March 2002 and 2004, 24 attacks were reported on the people by leopards in Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Out of these, attacks on 10 people proved to be fatal (Vidya Athreya, 2010). Soon enough, the Forest Minister of Maharashtra ordered trapping of 'man-eaters' responsible for these deaths and 30 leopards were trapped from the park! No logic was applied whether which leopard was responsible for the attacks or no one had a clue whether the actual man-eater leopard was trapped among the all these.
As leopards are more commonly seen around human habitations, it is more feared than the tiger. Therefore, the moment a leopard is seen close to human habitations, paranoia sets in among the people and the authorities. Recently in January 2011, there have been shameful and brutal acts on these animals one, when a leopard was shot dead at point blank range by a police officer in Maharashtra and the second, where a mob of people lynched a leopard to death in Bhubaneshwar. In both these cases, the leopards had come to human habitations in search of its natural prey and NOT for killing human beings. However, the forest departments, with its ever-short staff, could not do much to transquilise these cats and safely rescue them.
Leopards in India are vulnerable. Habitat destruction, poaching and scarcity of natural prey base are the biggest threats to their survival. In the absence of sufficient prey species in the wild, leopards often engage in killing of cattle and other domestic animals. This develops a feeling of revenge among the villagers whose cattle have been killed. It is not uncommon when villagers poison the carcass of the dead cattle thus killing the leopard responsible for the death of their cattle. We need a STRONG political will and greater awareness among the people to save leopards. In fact, the politicians who pass orders to kill leopards by placing the 'man-eater' tag on them need to take logical decisions by applying scientific facts and principles rather than popular public reaction. Else, we will find leopards fighting a losing battle soon.
Kedar Gore
Leopards (Panthera pardus) have always turned me on, even more than its striped cousin. The leopards or panthers, as they are also known, are found throughout the Indian Subcontinent, other parts of Asia and Africa. It is the most common representative of all the great cats of India. Because of its versatile habits and physical make-up, it has adapted itself perfectly well in practically all kinds of habitats. While the tiger prefers well wooded country with ample water, the leopard survives in a wide variety of habitats from dense forests to hills to scrub land to village fields. The average body length is about 7.5 feet from the snout to the tip of the tail. They are expert tree climbers and are known to carry their prey high up in the trees. This ability perfectly adapts it to the hilly terrain.
Like all the cats, leopards too lead a life of a predator. It mainly preys on spotted deer (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak), common langur (Semnopithecus entellus), Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and other smaller animals and birds. The eyesight and hearing is very well developed in leopards. This ability helps in leading a nocturnal life. Leopards generally hunt during dusk and dawn, the prey is approached very cautiously and then attacked with lightning on the ground or from an overhanging branch. The prey is then held by the throat with its canines and then strangulated to death. It is then moved to a safe spot away from the prying eyes of hyenas, jackals and tigers, and then eaten at leisure. The leopards are amazingly strong for their size. They are known to carry a full-grown male spotted deer up a tree to protect it from scavenging animals.
The most striking feature of a leopard is its spotted coat. If observed closely, the spots are actually black rosettes arranged closely. Unfortunately, the beauty of its coat has turned out be a curse for this highly adaptable animal. Every year, several of them are trapped, shot, poisoned by poachers and their skin and body parts are sold illegally in the black market. The Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) has maintained a record of leopard deaths in India since 1994. The figures are mind-boggling! In a span of a little over 17 years, 3578 leopards have been killed in India! And this tally does not include the ones killed but the carcasses not recovered by the investigation agencies and the leopards that died a natural death. This mayhem continues in 2011, with already 44 leopard deaths and 34 body part seizures reported. During the same period, 923 tiger deaths have been reported as well. If one looks at the quantum of the seizures from poachers by the authorities, for every two tiger skins there are at least 20 leopard skins! After looking at such statistics, one wonders whether these magnificent creatures will survive this decade.
Despite all this, leopards are still found in fairly decent numbers in most parts of the country. The fact is, apart from the few Protected Areas, no one really knows the real status of leopards. It is by no way less important than the tiger. It is at the apex of the ecosystem in many forests in India where tigers are not found. It is placed in 'Near Threatened' category in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and in the Schedule I of The Wildlife (Protection) Act of India.
Apart from India, the leopard occurs across most of sub-Saharan Africa, as remnant populations in North Africa, and then in the Arabian peninsula and Sinai/Judean Desert (Egypt/Israel/Jordan), south-western and eastern Turkey, and through Southwest Asia and the Caucasus into the Himalayan foothills, Nepal, China and the Russian Far East, as well as on the islands of Java and Sri Lanka (Nowell and Jackson 1996; Sunquist and Sunquist 2002; Hunter et al. in press). Leopards in India are patchily found throughout the country, except in the extreme Northwest and the deserts. Although leopards prey on a variety of species, stray dogs are one of its most preferred preys throughout the country. In fact, the most important reason for the presence of leopards outside Protected Areas, i.e. at the outskirts of towns and villages, are the abundance stray dogs in these areas. A striking example may be of the leopards found in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. The leopards here almost exclusively feed on the stray dogs found around this city forest. Leopards often wander to human settlements and habitation in search of stray dogs and other easy domestic prey (goats, chicken, cattle). This brings them in contact with the human beings quite frequently, and sometimes with disastrous results. There has been an increase in the number of man-leopard conflict cases throughout the country. In the absence of their preferred preys, leopards have been known to kill and eat human beings as well. Between March 2002 and 2004, 24 attacks were reported on the people by leopards in Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Out of these, attacks on 10 people proved to be fatal (Vidya Athreya, 2010). Soon enough, the Forest Minister of Maharashtra ordered trapping of 'man-eaters' responsible for these deaths and 30 leopards were trapped from the park! No logic was applied whether which leopard was responsible for the attacks or no one had a clue whether the actual man-eater leopard was trapped among the all these.
As leopards are more commonly seen around human habitations, it is more feared than the tiger. Therefore, the moment a leopard is seen close to human habitations, paranoia sets in among the people and the authorities. Recently in January 2011, there have been shameful and brutal acts on these animals one, when a leopard was shot dead at point blank range by a police officer in Maharashtra and the second, where a mob of people lynched a leopard to death in Bhubaneshwar. In both these cases, the leopards had come to human habitations in search of its natural prey and NOT for killing human beings. However, the forest departments, with its ever-short staff, could not do much to transquilise these cats and safely rescue them.
Leopards in India are vulnerable. Habitat destruction, poaching and scarcity of natural prey base are the biggest threats to their survival. In the absence of sufficient prey species in the wild, leopards often engage in killing of cattle and other domestic animals. This develops a feeling of revenge among the villagers whose cattle have been killed. It is not uncommon when villagers poison the carcass of the dead cattle thus killing the leopard responsible for the death of their cattle. We need a STRONG political will and greater awareness among the people to save leopards. In fact, the politicians who pass orders to kill leopards by placing the 'man-eater' tag on them need to take logical decisions by applying scientific facts and principles rather than popular public reaction. Else, we will find leopards fighting a losing battle soon.
Kedar Gore
