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Leopard Population In India Surges By 60 Per Cent To 12,852 Between 2014 And 2018

Swarajya Staff

Dec 22, 2020, 11:13 AM | Updated 11:13 AM IST


A leopard (By Sagr Kapoor via Wikimedia Commons) 
A leopard (By Sagr Kapoor via Wikimedia Commons) 

In a positive development, India's leopard population has witnessed a huge rise in the recent years, according to the "Status of Leopards in India 2018" report released by Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday (21 December), reports Times of India.

The report shows that between 2014 and 2018, the leopard population jumped up from around 8,000 to 12,852, marking an increase of about 60 per cent in just four years. The authorities have mapped the leopard population by using camera trapping methodology.

The highest number of the leopards are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh (MP) which is home to 3,421 leopards, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra that have 1,783 and 1,690 leopards respectively.

Meanwhile, in terms of region-wise distribution, the highest number of 8.071 leopards were found in Central India and Eastern Ghats which include the states of MP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The Western Ghats comprising Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala are home to 3,387 leopards. The Shivalik and Gangetic Plains comprising Uttar Pradesh (UP), Uttarakhand and Bihar are home to 1,253 leopards. Meanwhile, in the Northeast hills, there are just 141 leopards.


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