Scientists get 1,000 video clips from leopard’s camera collar, a first in India

WII scientist Bilal Habib said the camera was removed from the leopard on Thursday and the 1,000 video clips downloaded

Published on: Apr 11, 2025, 16:04:19 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi

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DEHRADUN: Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are set to analyse over 1,000 video clips captured by a camera collar affixed on a leopard in Maharashtra’s Junnar region three months ago.

This was the first time in India that a camera collar captured the world through the eyes of a wild leopard, WII’s Bilal Habib said in a post on X. (X/wildwithwolves)

Bilal Habib, the WII scientist who led the research initiative, said the camera was removed from the leopard on Thursday and the 1,000 video clips, each 30 seconds long, downloaded. They are being analysed by experts at WII.

Camera collars have long been used by scientists to track and study wild animals elsewhere in the world.

This was the first time in India that a camera collar captured the world through the eyes of a wild leopard, Habib said in a post on X.

“Deployed as part of a research initiative, this groundbreaking footage offers an intimate glimpse into the life and landscape of one of India’s most elusive big cats. A remarkable step forward in blending science, technology, and conservation for deeper understanding and coexistence,” he said.

“We will now analyse videos which will provide us a rare glimpse into the life of leopards in the Junnar region, a sugarcane belt in Maharashtra, which has often reported incidents of man-leopard conflict. The video data will help us in understanding the movement pattern and behaviour of the leopards”, Habib told HT.

He added that the study was being conducted as part of a 2019 agreement between WII and the Maharashtra government. Under this agreement, 13 leopards have been radio collared and one was camera collared to understand and suggest measures for checking increasing man-leopard conflict in the Junnar region.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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