Odisha counts nearly 700 leopards in its forests, 55% of them in protected areas

In its first ever census of leopards, the Odisha forest department on Thursday said there were nearly 700 of the big cat in the state’s forests, up from 568 recorded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) two years ago.
The census, conducted in May this year using 284 cameras as well as by analysing photographs, pug marks, scrapes, scats, rakes, urine spray, vocalisations, and livestock depredation, found 696 leopards in the state. The report was released by state forest and environment minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
State wildlife officials said 45% of Odisha’s leopard population was found outside the protected area network. Similipal Tiger Reserve was found to have the largest leopard population, followed by the Satkosia Tiger Reserve. Hirakud Wildlife Division, which includes Debrigarh Wildlife sanctuary, turned out to be another key habitat for leopards. The rare melanistic leopard morph was recorded from three Forest Divisions.
“Due to its extensive size, the Similipal landscape plays a crucial role as a source population for leopards in the surrounding region. It is connected to the Hadagarh Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, which is essential for leopards to disperse from Similipal to these other Protected Areas. Satkosia landscape turned out to be another promising site for leopards with the highest leopard population in the state. Our assessment is more scientific as sites with confirmed direct or indirect evidence of leopard were monitored using camera traps to estimate the minimum number of unique adult leopards based on their distinctive rosette patterns,” said chief wildlife warden Susanta Nanda.
Nanda said from next year, the camera trap-based All Odisha Leopard Estimation exercise will be synchronised with the annual All Odisha Tiger Estimation exercise. “This comprehensive exercise will involve collecting data on both the big cat occupancy, prey base estimation, and assessments of vegetation structure and human disturbance in the state,” he said.
The NTCA had released its census report in March this year, as per which the state’s forests had 568 leopards in 2022, down from 760 in 2018.
“The leopard population has increased in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, while a decline has been noted in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. This suggests common threats, such as poaching of prey for bush meat, targeted poaching for tiger and leopard skins and body parts and habitat loss due to mining and other human activities. Additionally, road accidents are a significant cause of leopard fatalities,” the ministry said in its assessment report.
The leopard numbers declined amid increasing seizure of its hide by the Special Task Force of Odisha CID and state forest department over the last 5 years. While the STF confiscated at least 57 leopard hides, the state forest department seized at least 50 in the same time span.
The state government had then contested the assessment on the ground of lesser estimation sites saying the NTCA skipped western Odisha & other sanctuaries where more leopards are known to be located.
As per the latest NTCA report, the leopard population in India stands at 13,874 (± 1,258). In India, the leopard population has dwindled by 75-90% in the last 120-200 years. According to WPSI, around 1485 leopards were poached in the country in the last ten years.
The rise in leopard census comes in the backdrop of similar increase in the numbers of royal Bengal tigers in Odisha’s forests.
The state forest department, which conducted its own census late last year, reported 30 adult tigers and 8 cubs in February this year, up from 20 reported by NTCA in its all-India tiger estimation in 2022.
The state census done through more camera traps found Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district housing 27 adults and 8 cubs while one adult male each was sighted in the Hirakud Wildlife Division, Paralakhemundi Territorial Forest Division and Greater Similipal tiger landscape.