Daily Current Affairs Article 23rd December 2020: The population of leopard in India has increased by 60 per cent, according to a report released by the government.
The leopard population has been estimated using camera trapping method.
There are 12,852 leopards in India as of 2018 as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted 2014, an increase of 60% in 4 years.
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The highest concentration of the leopard in India is estimated to be in Madhya Pradesh (3,421) followed by Karnataka (1,783) and Maharashtra (1,690).
Recent meta-analyses of leopard status and distribution suggest 48–67% range loss for the species in Africa and 83–87% in Asia.
In India, leopards have experienced a possibly human-induced 75-90% population decline in the last ~120-200 years.
In Indian subcontinent poaching, habitat loss, depletion of natural prey and conflict are major threats to leopard populations. All these have resulted in changing the species status from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
As for region-wise distribution, the highest number of 8,071 leopards were found in central India and eastern ghats. In the northeast hills, there are just 141 leopards.
