Research Article:Navya, R., Athreya, V., Mudappa, D., & Raman, T. R. S. (2014). Assessing leopard occurrence in the plantation landscape of Valparai, Anamalai Hills. Current Science, 107, 1381–1385.

Blog Author: Arjun Menon

Key highlights: 

• Shared Landscapes: India’s adaptable carnivores, particularly leopards, frequently live in high-density human areas outside protected forests.
• Camera Trap Surveys: Motion-sensor cameras recorded active leopard presence across plantation estates and town areas on the Valparai plateau.
• Town Sightings: The highest photo-capture rate occurred near urban settlements, likely attracted by food waste near meat shops, or the close camera trap placements.
• Prey and Coexistence: Abundant natural prey and daytime herding help keep conflict levels lower than in other similar human-use landscapes.

India is a nation where adaptable carnivores live alongside high human population densities. This interface between humans and carnivores leads to negative interactions that cause losses on both sides. Humans face economic losses due to livestock depredation and sometimes direct injuries or deaths, while carnivores are also injured or killed during retaliatory attacks. Among carnivores from the cat family, leopards have the largest distribution, a very flexible diet, and the ability to use diverse landscapes such as forests, tea plantations, and coffee plantations. They prey on domestic livestock, dogs, pigs, and poultry, and occasionally attack humans, all of which leads to conflict with the communities they share space with.

The Valparai plateau in Tamil Nadu consists of townships, tea, coffee, eucalyptus plantations, and the primary forests of Anamalai and Parambikulam Tiger Reserves - all packed into 220 square kilometres which is roughly one-third the area of Bengaluru city! Valparai also has townships and human settlements that could increase human-leopard conflicts. Between 2000 and 2010, 51 livestock were killed by leopards, of which there were 45 cows and 6 goats and 3 cows were injured. In the same period, 15 people were attacked by leopards, leading to 10 deaths and 5 injuries. A study aimed to understand the areas with a high presence of leopards that could lead to negative interactions with people.

In this study, camera traps were used to identify the areas where leopards are found frequently. To achieve this, researchers divided the landscape into three blocks: Northern, Southern, and Urban. The Northern block has a mix of tea, coffee, and eucalyptus plantations with rainforest fragments interspersed within the estates. The Southern block is predominantly tea with a small patch of eucalyptus plantation. Locations for deploying camera traps in the Northern and Southern blocks were determined by walking estate trails and roads to find leopard signs such as pugmarks and scat. In the Urban block, camera traps were placed in spots where locals had sighted leopards earlier.

The presence of leopards in Valparai appeared to be higher than in other landscapes. Interestingly, the number of images captured was highest in the Urban block, which could be due to the presence of garbage dumps and animal waste around meat shops. Cameras also documented 12 other mammal species, including wild prey like porcupines, wild pigs, barking deer, sambar deer, and gaur, alongside carnivores such as sloth bears and wild dogs.

When compared with studies from other similar landscapes, the level of conflict occurring in Valparai seems to be lower. A study from Northern West Bengal recorded 243 leopard attacks on humans between 2001 and 2008, 90% of which were in tea plantations. Similarly, in Laos, 583 livestock depredation events were reported by large carnivores between 1993 and 2002. The lower conflict in Valparai is likely due to high wild prey abundance, fewer households owning livestock, and the fact that livestock are accompanied by herders during the day. This suggests that conflict does not occur simply due to the presence of leopards, but is shaped by broader ecological and human factors. Maintaining wild prey populations can be key to minimising conflict.

To access the original article, click here

Keywords:Leopard Conservation, Valparai Plateau, Wildlife Coexistence, Camera Traps, Human-Leopard Conflict, Western Ghats, Biodiversity