BENGALURU: Leopards in human habitations needn’t always have strayed in or are in conflict with humans. A pioneering GPS-based study of leopards in India has found that these big cats have strategies to thrive in human habitations.

Five leopards (including three females), perceived as problem animals, were captured from human habitations and radio-collared to collect data. While four were from Nashik, one was from Himachal Pradesh . While a couple were translocated and released over 50km away, three were released near their site of capture. Scientists monitored their activities for a year, recording their behaviour which included strategies to avoid direct contact with people.

“Two leopards actually lived in towns — in high human-density areas without any forest land in the vicinity. They ate stray dogs and domestic animals as prey and never came into conflict with humans,” said Vidya Athreya, senior research fellow, Wildlife Conservation Society , Bengaluru. Two females even gave birth to cubs during the course of the study.

These leopards avoided humans — they hardly moved during the day and came very close to human homes without people even being aware of their presence. “It would be fair to call it shared space, not co-existence of humans with leopards as the former is unaware of the latter’s presence around them,” she said. Scientists from Norway (Morten Odden from Hedmark University College and John Linnell from Norwegian Institute for Nature Research ), Sandeep Rattan (Himachal Pradesh Forest Department), Maharashtra forest department and Asian Nature Conservation Foundation were part of the study. “The animals applied tactics to avoid encountering people, despite dependence on their resources. Their night movement gave them access to people’s livestock, keeping them safe from people at the same time,” note scientists.

Expertspeak

There is a need for more studies on ecology of wildlife that share space with humans, to enable better understanding resulting in better policies. The management policy should work towards retaining the acceptance and tolerance of local people.

Vidya Athreya | wildlife researcher

Shared spaces across the world

* A mountain lion was caught atop a car in a driveway in San Jose, California on October 8, 2014. The animal reportedly spent 30 seconds there before getting down to the frontyard and disappearing into the neighborhood, suggesting it was a native of that place

* Around 70% of Sri Lanka’s elephants live outside the country’s earmarked protected areas and the man-animal conflict results from this. “The need of the hour is the creation of conservation landscapes integrating protected areas and areas where appropriately regulated land-use regimes can allow elephants and humans to co-exist with minimal conflict,” note scientists in their report.

: Leopards in human habitations needn’t always have strayed in or are in conflict with humans. A pioneering GPS-based study of leopards in India has found that these big cats have strategies to thrive in human habitations.

Five leopards (including three females), perceived as problem animals, were captured from human habitations and radio-collared to collect data. While four were from Nashik, one was from Himachal Pradesh. While a couple were translocated and released over 50km away, three were released near their site of capture.

Scientists monitored their activities for a year, recording their behaviour which included strategies to avoid direct contact with people.

“Two leopards actually lived in towns — in high human-density areas without any forest land in the vicinity. They ate stray dogs and domestic animals as prey and never came into conflict with humans,” said Vidya Athreya, senior research fellow, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bengaluru. Two females even gave birth to cubs during the course of the study.

These leopards avoided humans — they hardly moved during the day and came very close to human homes without people even being aware of their presence. “It would be fair to call it shared space, not co-existence of humans with leopards as the former is unaware of the latter’s presence around them,” she said.

Scientists from Norway (Morten Odden from Hedmark University College and John Linnell from Norwegian Institute for Nature Research), Sandeep Rattan (Himachal Pradesh Forest Department), Maharashtra forest department and Asian Nature Conservation Foundation were part of the study.

“The animals applied tactics to avoid encountering people, despite dependence on their resources. Their night movement gave them access to people’s livestock, keeping them safe from people at the same time,” note scientists.

Expertspeak

There is a need for more studies on ecology of wildlife that share space with humans, to enable better understanding resulting in better policies. The management policy should work towards retaining the acceptance and tolerance of local people.

Vidya Athreya | wildlife researcher

Shared spaces across the world

* A mountain lion was caught atop a car in a driveway in San Jose, California on October 8, 2014. The animal reportedly spent 30 seconds there before getting down to the frontyard and disappearing into the neighborhood, suggesting it was a native of that place

* Around 70% of Sri Lanka’s elephants live outside the country’s earmarked protected areas and the man-animal conflict results from this. “The need of the hour is the creation of conservation landscapes integrating protected areas and areas where appropriately regulated land-use regimes can allow elephants and humans to co-exist with minimal conflict,” note scientists in their report.

