BHUBANESWAR: At 696, the number of leopards has increased in the state as compared to previous estimates, revealed the first ‘All Odisha Leopard Estimation’ report of the state government on Thursday.
Released by Forest and Environment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia on the occasion of 70th Wildlife Week here, the report said the leopard number has increased by around 128 more than the previous count of 568 recorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2022.
Around 45 per cent of leopard population is located outside the protected area network, indicating presence of a considerable number of the majestic cats in territorial forest divisions. The rare melanistic leopard morph was also recorded in three forest divisions.
With approximately 200 leopards, Similipal landscape was found having the highest number these big cat species. Satkosia tiger landscape turned out to be another promising site with the second highest concentration of these predators. Hirakud wildlife division, which includes Debrigarh sanctuary, is another key habitat with significant leopard population, the report stated.
The state government carried out the estimation for the first time in May this year after the Status of Leopard in India-2022 report of the NTCA said leopard population in Odisha recorded a ‘significant decline’ and the count of the big cats in the state plunged to 568 from 760 in 2018.
Reports of more than 100 leopard skins being seized in the state during last six years also turned out to be a major embarrassment for the government pointing at the rampant poaching of the species and poor conservation efforts of the Forest department.
Forest officials, however, said the fresh estimation involved a more intensive leopard monitoring. As part of the estimation, a statewide field survey was conducted to identify leopard presence through various signs, including pug marks, scrapes, scats, rakes, urine spray, vocalisations and livestock depredation. Sites with confirmed direct or indirect evidence of leopard were monitored using camera traps to estimate the minimum number of unique adult leopards based on their distinctive rosette patterns.
While the rise in leopard count is a positive sign, the figure is still 64 less than the 2018 enumeration. PCCF, Wildlife Susanta Nanda said the censuses of 2018 and 2022 were carried out in limited areas, whereas in 2024, the estimation was conducted across 47 divisions. Besides, the statistical error which was around 35 per cent in 2018 and 33 per cent in 2022, is less than 10 per cent in the present count. Nanda further said the 284 unique leopards captured in the camera trap this year is also the highest compared to 162 captures in 2022 and 63 in 2018.
It was difficult to issue division-wise statistics of the species as the landscape of these big cats is huge and spread across multiple divisions, he added.