Madhya Pradesh

• 01 Mar 2024

Leopard Numbers Show 8% Rise from 2018 to 2022

Why in News?

According to a report made public by the Environment Ministry, India’s leopard numbers rose by 8% from 12,852 in 2018 to 13,874 in 2022.

Key Points

• The highest number of leopards were reported in Madhya Pradesh (3,907), only three other States reported over a 1,000 animals each — Maharashtra (1,985), Karnataka (1,879) and Tamil Nadu (1,070).
• Uttarakhand reported a 22% decline in the big cat numbers, due to poaching and human-animal conflict.
  • Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal saw a collective 150% rise to 349 animals.
• In the analysis coordinated by the Wildlife Institute of India, the Shivalik hills and the Gangetic plains recorded 3.4% yearly decline, while Central India and the Eastern Ghats, the Western Ghats and the hills of the northeast, and the Brahmaputra flood plains recorded growth of 1.5%, 1% and 1.3% per annum respectively.
• Leopard numbers have declined in Ramnagar forest division (Uttarakhand), where tiger numbers have shown a very steep growth in the past four years.
  • The significant increase in leopard population reported in the northeastern States was due to a "sampling artifact", indicating that there were few systematic surveys and fewer cameras installed in previous years.

Wildlife Institute of India

• It is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It was established in 1982.
• It is based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
• It offers training programs, academic courses, and advisory in wildlife research and management.