Times of India , Thursday, January 24, 2008

Correspondent : Staff Reporter

LUCKNOW: The figures released by ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) on January 16, 2008, show that there was a loss of more than 150 leopards in the past one year at various places in the country. The figures not only necessitate government to take cognizance of the loss, but also accord leopard conservation, a mission mode. There are not more than 11,000 leopards left in the country. The figures are alarming against the backdrop that a leopard is listed under Schedule (I) of Wildlife (Protection) Act and is identified as critically endangered. But, so far its conservation has failed to garner as much attention as that of a lion or a tiger. Leopard conservation in the country is more or less clubbed with that of tigers as quite a big number of leopards exist in tiger reserves. But to arrive at an exact number of leopards existing within and outside the protected areas, there has never been any effort like leopard census in the past. Conservationists feel that this affects the systematic protection of the big cat. "Counting of leopards is done by way of tiger census but the number has not been released as the effort is not given any serious consideration," says Ram Lakhan Singh, ex-director, Project Tiger. Leopard faces severest backlash from humans and grave threat from poachers. The declining prey base and shrinking habitat forces the animal to venture out of the forest area. "The number of leopards dying each year is always four to five times higher than tigers," said Tito Joseph from Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). When it attacks humans and livestock, it faces a backlash. There have been studies done in some parts of India by organisations like Cat Specialist Group of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) which indicate an increase in leopard-human conflict. The experts are of the view that ill-will that has risen in the communities surrounding the forest areas in a way support poaching and poisoning of leopards. It is also venturing out of the forest area that makes this animal more visible and also forwards a hint of it being over-populated.

SOURCE : Times of India, Thursday, 24 January 2008