Author: Vinni Jain

This is the second article from our two-part series called ‘Human-leopard Interactions’.

Lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, and jaguars, collectively called ‘big cats’, have lived alongside people for thousands of years. This long-standing association has inspired countless myths, traditions, and cultural beliefs, in which big cats are regarded as elusive, fearsome, and awe-inspiring. Today, as human settlements and activities expand and wildlife habitats disappear, human-big cat relationships are changing, with both competing for similar resources in shared spaces. In this study led by Dr. Vidya Athreya, scientists take a closer look at how leopards impact people in a shared landscape in rural India.

People and leopards overlap in India more often than you think! From the Western Ghats in the south to the Himalayan foothills in the north, these adaptable carnivores can be found in urban and rural areas alike. When wild prey like deer, monkeys, and civets are insufficient, leopards capture and eat domestic animals like cattle, goats, and dogs. This supplementation with ‘easy prey’ supports leopard populations, but it can have negative impacts on people’s livelihoods and safety, resulting in ‘human-leopard conflict’. 

In order to better understand how leopards impact people, scientists from Wildlife Conservation Society, Indian Institute of Science, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Centre for Wildlife Studies, Norwegian Institute of Nature Research, and Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment interviewed people in Akole, a small agricultural taluk in western Maharashtra where there is a high degree of spatial overlap between humans, leopards, and livestock. 

The scientists found that on average, 81 livestock were lost to leopards annually, a surprisingly low number. There were no reports of humans being killed, and the few attacks that did occur were accidental or provoked. Disease and illness were found to be the leading causes of livestock death, with leopards playing a minor role. Interestingly, dogs were found to be an attractant for leopards, along with the absence of sturdy, predator-proof livestock sheds.

Most people reported livestock losses caused by leopards to the government in order to receive compensation. However, this was not true for migratory shepherds who were either unaware or lacked faith in the process. The authors highlight that this indicates that compensation as a mitigation measure might have shortcomings, and that management needs to assess and improve its impact.  

Considering the high density of leopards (10 adults per 100km2) and short supply of wild prey in the area, the rates of leopard attacks on humans and livestock were much lower than expected. This is likely due to the wide adoption of predator-proof sheds, an effective preventive measure, by local people. The authors question the typical classification of livestock attacks by carnivores as “conflict”, which implies that the animals are at fault. They argue that loss should be considered a consequence of inadequate protection, thus shifting the onus onto livestock owners. 

Overall, the findings of this study challenge the idea that wild carnivores are incompatible with humans. The situation in Akole demonstrates that with minor adjustments to human behaviour, big cats and people can share resources and live side-by-side relatively peacefully. Such ‘coexistence’ is essential for the long-term persistence of big cats in today’s human-dominated world. 

Original Research Article: The impact of leopards (Panthera pardus) on livestock losses and human injuries in a human-use landscape in Maharashtra India – Vidya Athreya, Kavita Isvaran, Morten Odden, John Linnell, Aritra Kshettry, Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Ullas Karanth – PeerJ, 2020

You can access the original article here.

You can access the Kannada translation here.