E-Paper
Human-wildlife conflict: Leopard attacks account for second highest deaths in Maharashtra
A major population block in India having 5,906 leopards is spread across 91,427 km forested landscape of central India covering the semi-arid zone of Rajasthan and the continuous landscape of the Deccan plateau (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha)
The forest department data has revealed that tiger and leopard attacks account for maximum human deaths respectively in human-wildlife conflicts in Maharashtra.
Leopard attacks has climbed to double digit in the last five years with 99 deaths recorded till March 2024 — 25 per cent of human death caused by wild animals in Maharashtra.
While the big cats existed at forest areas near human settlements in the state, the human-leopard conflicts were reported at western Maharashtra since the late 90s. Though the attacks were few and far between, increase in population over the years led to rise in human-wildlife conflicts especially at cane fields.
In the report “Status of leopard, co-predators and megaherbivores in India –2018” published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2021, the leopard population in the tiger range landscape of India was estimated at 12,852. A major population block in India having 5,906 leopards is spread across 91,427 km forested landscape of central India covering the semi-arid zone of Rajasthan and the continuous landscape of the Deccan plateau (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha). Sahyadri Hills of Maharashtra in the northern Western Ghats is included in central India for convenience so as not to split the state of Maharashtra into two landscapes. The estimated leopard population of Maharashtra is mentioned as 1,690 with standard error.
Leopard population in Maharashtra can be segregated into three regions — Vidarbha that includes most of the tiger reserves i.e. Bor, Tadoba-Andhari, Navegaon-Nagzira, Pench and Melghat along with sanctuaries like Painganga, Tipeshwar, Umred, Karhanla and large forest patches of territorial forest divisions such as Chandrapur, Central Chanda, Wardha, Yavatmal and Gadchiroli. High density of leopards was reported from Navegaon-Nagzira, Melghat and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves. Leopards were found to be distributed in the forested areas of Junnar, Ahmednagar, Malegaon, Yawal and Nashik forest divisions. The big cats are known to survive on domestic animals as prey in the agro-pastoral areas of Ahmednagar forest division.
The forest officials have observed that the leopard population is not only growing in the state, but also expanding to new territory leading to an increase in human-wildlife interaction in recent times. As per the data, in 2024, the state recorded at least 15 human deaths due to leopard attack till March this year. In Pune, at least five human deaths have been reported between March and August this year.
The forest department data states 391 human deaths due to wild animals between March 2019 and March 2024. While tiger attacks caused 239 human deaths, the other animals include sloth bear (12), elephant (9), gaur (8), bison(2), nilgai (2), crocodile (1), wolf (2), wild boar (8), wild pig (8), and one unspecified death.
Maheep Gupta, state’s principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), said, “While the forest department is taking measures under a multipronged strategy for prevention of accidents and man-animal conflict situations, rising number of wild animal species is posing a tough challenge. The tiger count went up to 444 in 2022 from 312 in 2018, and leopard 1,670 to 1,995 in Maharashtra.”
Leopard captured at Jambut village
After the recent human death incident due to leopard attack at Jambut village of Shirur tehsil, Junnar forest department team captured a four-year-old female big cat from the area, close to the attack site. Pratap Jagtap, range forest officer, Shirur, said, “The leopard was captured early morning hours on Wednesday and shifted to Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre in Junnar. A swab test will be carried out to confirm the animal was involved in the recent attack.”
