Ecology and conservation of leopards in protected and multiple use forests in Karnataka

The leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) is among the most conflict-prone wildlife species due to its ability to survive in human-dominated landscapes and its catholic prey requirements. Though leopards are wide-ranging in their distribution, leopard populations are declining in many parts of their range due to habitat loss, poaching, vehicular collisions, retaliatory killing and other causes.

In an effort to understand patterns of leopard density and abundance across a range of habitats, we designed a camera trap study to sample a few sites across south of Karnataka approximating an area of 26,500 km2. The sites that were selected for camera trapping included ten reserved forests. Our study area encompassed a total of ~3170 km² from where we have estimated a mean abundance of ~300 (SD ±15.2) leopards.