Leopard deaths in accidents rose by 278% in 10 years, shows data

Leopard deaths in train and road accidents have increased over the past 10 years with a 278% rise from 2010 to 2019.

The country recorded 83 leopard deaths in train and road accidents in 2019, the highest in a decade, according to year-end data collated by the Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). Of these, 73 were killed in road accidents and 10 were run over by trains.

The country recorded 83 leopard deaths in train and road accidents in 2019, the highest in a decade, according to year-end data collated by the Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). (PTI Photo (Representative))

Leopard deaths in train and road accidents have increased over the past 10 years with a 278% rise from 2010 to 2019. Last year, 80 deaths of the big cats were reported, 63 in 2017, 51 each in 2015 and 2016, 41 in 2014, 35 in 2013, 28 in 2012, 30 in 2011, and 22 in 2010, WPSI data showed.

For the second consecutive year, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of leopard deaths among all states with 22 cases (19 in road , three in train accidents) in 2019. On Monday evening, a four-year-old male leopard was killed in a road accident on the Pune-Nashik highway. which has been converted into four-lane road from two lanes.

Maharashtra was followed by Uttarakhand (11 deaths), Rajasthan (10), Madhya Pradesh (9), Karnataka (7), and Gujarat (5) this year. “Between 2000 and 2009, leopard deaths due to road and railway did not exceed 20 a year. However, the situation has worsened over the last 10 years with more linear infrastructure planned inside and outside forests,” said Tito Joseph, programme coordinator, WPSI.

“We assessed that the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) under the environment ministry issued environment clearances for over 90% linear infrastructure projects (roads, railways, transmission lines, etc) in 2019 alone, which further jeopardises the future of big cats and other animals. It is high time that plans made on paper are implemented.”

Wildlife biologist Vidya Athreya said, “We need to focus our efforts outside protected areas where such issues threaten conservation of wildlife much more.”

The environment ministry said the NBWL had made it mandatory for user agencies to take up advisories issued by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun to address the problem of road and rail accidents.

“All state chief wildlife wardens have been told that not a single project should be issued clearances without first identifying mitigation measures,” a senior official from the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) said.